Alan Chambers has been committing a cardinal sin in Fundamentalist Fantasyland these days: he’s been openly, honestly admitting that “ex-gay’s” really aren’t “ex”-anything, that people really can’t change their sexual orientation and that the quack science known as “reparative therapy” is often ineffective and harmful. This honesty is the equivalent, for more extremist “ex-gay” activists, of throwing up the Kool-Aid. So of course, some of Exodus’s affiliate ministries are jumping ship, so that they can continue to harm people without the taint of honesty or integrity:
[T]he 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.”
See? Honesty. Alan Chambers acknowledged that gay Christians exist and that people who scream about how they’re “not gay anymore” still tend to be “really so gay.” Is that David Pickup I hear, talking?
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.”
Uh huh. Ready for a flaming conniption? Yo, Greg Quinlan:
“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.
Voice of reason from our own Wayne Besen:
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.”
Agreed. It’s good news that such a visible person as Alan Chambers is beginning to tell the truth, but it’s important to remember that the key word there is “beginning,” and for every time Alan tells the truth, there are fifty charlatans like the members of NARTH and Quinlan, fixing up a new batch of Kool-Aid to give to unsuspecting, innocent people.
an ‘ex-gay’ Dr. . .Pickup? Oh, thats just to damn good.
Nice to see the quackery movement imploding though!
“beginning” to tell the truth – but there still remains the fact that Chambers is a twenty-faced weasel whose tune changes according to what he thinks will make his target audience give him more sympathy.
That man is not to be trusted, ever.
With Spitzer, and now Chambers, things ARE changing. Without the great work of you folks at TWO, this would not be happening.
NOM et al is NOT going down without a fight!!! Do NOT FORGET the Regnerus “Gays make bad parents” $875,000 study funded by the Witherspoon Institute and the Bradley Foundation and issued June 11, 2012. We all must continue to fight this so that it does not take root.
If we don’t put Regnerus down now, we will be fighting this for the next 10 years like we did with Spitzer. As far as I know only ONE person filed an Ethics complaint with the American Sociological Association, Scott Rose of the New Civil Rights Movement.
You don’t have to be a member to file a complaint. Here is the link to their code of Ethics
http://www.asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm
Please request an Ethics Investigation of Mark Regnerus for saying as he has said in this comments to his paper, and in his paper and in the press that his research clearly shows that Married Heterosexual Parents raising their biological children IS the Gold Standard for the best outcomes for children and every other family is less than that.
BUT Mark Regnerus only found 2, only TWO people who were raised by a straight up lesbian couple for 18 years. He did not find stable partnered lesbian and gay headed families, and since he did not find them, how the hell can he say that they are “Not as Good?”
Look for the articles in July here. Look for the original paper and then people who commented on the paper including Regnerus.
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/social-science-research/recent-articles/
Here is the e-mail address of the Executive at the American Sociological Association to file your complaint, just send an e-mail how darned hard is that?
Sally Hillsman Phone: (202) 383-9005(ext 316)
executive.office@asanet.org
Even, John Becker Wayne, please at LEAST you 3 guys file an ethics complaint. I read the internet a LOT and so far the only one I see who has done this is Scott Rose from The New Civil Rights Movement.
Everyone here at TWO do you want to fight this Regnerus study for the next 10 years like we did with Spitzer? Then get off your butts and file an Ethics Complaint with the American Sociological Association.
Read Scott Roses articles to give you background http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/category/scott-rose-2
FIGHT REGNERUS NOW OR FIGHT HIM FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS, TAKE YOUR PICK.
““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”
Gregg, with 2 g’s, honey– thats what he’s always done. but now, he’s starting to be honest.
While I agree partially with this article, I think it could use a bit of clarification.
Alan Chambers still believes that homosexuality is a sin, and that gay men and women should remain celibate in the face of their attractions to the same sex. From his June 2012 letter, “Defining Exodus”:
“Exodus does not believe SSA [same-sex addiction] is sinful. However, sexual expression resulting from SSA is. Making such clear distinctions has been a failure of the Church that is slowly being realized and changed. At Exodus International one of our primary missions is to communicate that we all have propensities that if indulged can lead us into sin, but those attractions or inclinations are not sinful.”
In other words, being gay is not a sin to Mr. Chambers – but having gay sex is still a sin.
Now it is true that Mr. Chambers states Exodus no longer advocates reparative therapy:
“In fact we are no longer an organization that associates with or promotes therapeutic practices that focus on changing one’s attraction. I found the greatest amount of freedom when I stopped focusing on my sin and struggles and started focusing on the grace and peace found only in Christ and the man He created me to be. This life isn’t most about sin management but about living daily as the sons and daughters of God. In part, it is the peace and rest found in that identity alone that transforms us daily.”
So while it’s positive that Exodus no longer ‘flagships’ the idea of reparative therapy, and now admits that sexual orientation in what I’ll call “monosexuals” – those with an attraction only to a single sex (as opposed to multisexuals – those who are/can be attracted to both sexes) – is not changeable through therapy or even prayer, it’s only a half-step since Mr. Chambers still advocates ACTING on homosexuality as a sinful crime.
It turns out that Exodus’ long standing mantra, “Change is Possible,” was ironically prophetic.
I, a university grad, was duped by rejecting evangelical friends into attending Exodus’ 2004 pow-wow at Azusa Pacific–on threat of renunciation of fellowship. I shelled out $450 and hauled my a*s (using hard earned vacation time) from Orange County up there. The carnival of camp and self-hatred was a spectacle that wised me up to the fact that a) these people are DAMAGED grifters caught in a scam that has consumed their lives and b) there had to be a larger community of LGBTs that were well-adjusted and had actual jobs, like me.
Chambers, Randy Thomas, John Smid, Andy Comiskey, Sy Rogers, et al basically confessed the reality that the innate attractions never go away. They are also, to put it kindly, unremittingly fem which probably brought them a world of hurt as youths in their religious communities that permanently damaged their self esteem.
It doesn’t take a neuroscientist to tell me that if I like guy’s voices, bodies, scent, emotional expression and movement, it’s wired so deep in my brain it’s akin to being left handed. That these scammers persist with a theology that says, “the world is fallen and therefore God permitted you to be formed in the womb with a lifelong propensity for which you will be punished by acting on it, even though heteros won’t be”, tells you what a waste of life they are engaged in. A sad vortex of waste.
I’m getting married to love of my life in September and he’s wonderful. Integrity and love make this world go round.
Particularly primates appear to have differing degrees of “homosexual” behavior. The first evidence of the sex-behavior center came from research on mammals. Most research involved surgical interventions and the administration or denial of sex hormones during critical brain differentiation periods. In human female fetuses at risk for masculinizing effects from male hormones, German physicians, using in-utero anti-androgens, have forced female genitalia and brain-gender/sex. Although discussed by Dörner, the use of androgens to force male brain-gender is complex and can potentially result in brain damage, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, hyper-activity, and hyper-aggression.
Physiology, anatomy, and psychophysiology.
Numerous studies show male homosexuals in many ways approximate females, and significantly differ from male heterosexuals. Comparing male homosexuals to female heterosexuals, similarities include muscle structure, sleep patterns, pelvic openings, carry angle of arm, perception, finger dexterity, noticeable acoustic style, visuo-spatial ability, verbal performance, language lateralization, eating disorders, throw-to-target ability, mental rotation task, E.E.G. readings, response to male pheromones, etc. Compared to heterosexual males, some studies suggest homosexual males appear more prone to left-handedness, stuttering, and reading difficulties, differing brain anatomy related to auditory input, atypical gender and sex behavior, differing lipid levels, more empathy and altruism, larger penile dimension, etc. Among other research showing brain differences between homosexual and heterosexual males, anatomical research at Salk Institute comparing male heterosexual and homosexual brains suggests a differing development of the sex-behavior center in male homosexuals. A more recent UCLA study of the male homosexual brain shows broader differences discriminating male homosexuals from both male and female heterosexuals. Research on transsexuals has also revealed significant differences in brain anatomy and gonadotropin secretions.
Hormonal anomalies.
Direct hormonal evidence shows that male homosexuals and heterosexuals significantly differ from one another. In blind analysis, Margolese and Janiger accurately predicted sexual orientation. Some depressives, unknown to be homosexual, may have a similar difference in sex hormone ratio. Dörner and Gooren injected estrogen into male homosexuals, male heterosexuals, and female heterosexuals with removed ovaries. They found the luteinizing hormone response of male homosexuals almost identical with these females and significantly different from male heterosexuals. Similar results are found in male-to-female transsexuals. Studies, using stringent classification of research subjects, show adult male heterosexuals have significantly higher levels of male hormones than do male homosexuals. In animals with litters along a placental line, female mammals between male mammals cause post-natal sex-stereotypic male behaviors (e.g., sexual mounting and aggression) in these females. Dörner hypothesizes that various in humans prenatal and postnatal hormonal administrations may be used to establish specific brain sex/gender outcomes.
Upsetting a female mammal during gestation can produce cross-gendered offspring. Stress apparently lowers androgens in humans and crowding causes stress resulting in anomalous social behavior and cross-gendered behavior in mammals. A similar phenomenon occurs in post hoc research on some homosexual research subjects. Twice the numbers of male homosexuals were born in war-ravaged Germany during World War II than the six years before or after the war.
Pheromones and Sexual Orientation
The vomeronasal system, adjacent to the olfactory system, mediates sexual interest for both males and females. Findings indicate pheromones play an important role in the identification of sexual objects at a subconscious level. For male homosexuals research has shown a clearly female neurological and social response to pheromones produced by males. In addition, preference for human body odors are influenced by gender and sexual orientation.
Genetics and Neuroendocrinology.
Augmenting decades old and contemporary research showing more homosexuals are born as the age of the mother increases, recent research implicates H-Y antigens (resulting from previous male births) increase the probability of adult homosexuality and lack of heterosexual cohabitation by as much as 33 percent. The sibling sex ration, without implicating H-Y antigen, suggests that approximately 10% of the variance in male homosexual behavior can be accounted for sibling sex-ratio. Androgen-insensitives (XY females) and partial-androgen insensitives, illustrate the power of genetics in creating a divergence of genetic gender from both behavioral and anatomic gender. XX females born with male genitalia and behavioral masculinization present a clear case for biologically induced cross gendering. Many chromosomal anomalies (e.g., X deletion ring, ring X or isochrome X, missing X, XXXX, XYY, XX/XY, X0/XY, XXY/XX, XXY/XY, X0/XX, etc.) are contributing factors to sexual orientation, level of intellect, performance of tasks, etc. Identical twins are usually concordant in sexual orientation. Identical twins discordant for sexual orientation can be explained by biological events and reluctance of some to reveal their homosexuality. There is one study, dealing with 61 pairs of twins and three sets of triplets. In one case all the triplets were homosexual. Genetic linkage analysis, using extended families, of the X chromosome suggests some familial male homosexuality is likely genetic and passed down the maternal line. A recent study using only homosexual siblings, found through advertisements in Gay newspapers and magazines, using a limited number of markers without the comparisons in extended families called into question the genetic theory of homosexuality. Studies of the genetic contribution to homosexuality are often marred by poor subject selection, precise definitions of behavior, over generalization, inadequate methodology, etc. Based on many studies of male homosexual twins, using very conservative statistical formulae, heritable factors may account for 44 percent of cases. Research on twins, families, and the adopted implicates genetic or neurohormonal origins for sexual orientation.
The argument against genetic factors because homosexuals seldom marry is fallacious. Male homosexuals, subjected to social pressure to marry, often have offspring. Even if homosexuals did not reproduce, the gene pool would still contain recessive traits, sport genes, and neuro-hormonal influences in-utero leading to cross-gendering.
Surgery and brain compromise.
Evidence from neurosurgery challenges the archetypic myth that persons, based on genital sex determination at birth, will exhibit “gender appropriate” or “heterosexual” behavior in adolescence and adulthood. The first such evidence comes from data on pre-frontal lobotomy patients , some being treated for agitated depression. Following surgery, some patients became “spontaneously” homosexual. In line with Money’s comments about sex hormone ratios in some depressives, many of these patients had significant depressive illness. Apparently, when the frontal area of the brain could no longer suppress underlying homosexual drives, these pseudo heterosexuals reverted to their normal homosexual preoccupation. In follow-up, patients reported being able to suppress homosexual urges over a long period. Clinical data shows that as the brain deteriorates with aging, some pseudo heterosexuals are unable to mask their underlying homosexuality.
In some countries, homosexuals have been “treated” surgically to force heterosexual behavior. Psychosurgery of the sex behavior center reduces or eliminates homosexual responding in some homosexual males. Many patients, without psychotherapeutic intervention, become heterosexually active after surgery. Some become asexual and have no sexual interest. Psychosurgery in lesbians results in fewer behavioral changes. After these psychosurgeries, failure to follow-up patients and adverse side-effects are common–including death. A German government commission has called for the elimination of these surgeries. Psychosurgeries to change sexual orientation are not available in the United States.
Some males are accidentally mutilated during circumcision. Because of the ease of a male to female change, they are often sexually reassigned as females. Some of these “females” are masculine in behavior and many are “lesbian” during adulthood.
Research shows changes in sexual orientation can result from viral attack of the human sex-behavior center, head injuries, and tumors. Psycho social stressors leading to pseudosexuality and neurological insult or injury are apparently the only means of significantly altering the expression of sexual orientation. Excepting neurological changes, no credible sex researcher in the last fifty years has suggested sexual orientation changes after childhood. Most agree biological factors often mediate sexual orientation.
Psychophysiology.
Autonomic pupillary and penile reflexes, minimally controlled by conscious processes, reliably differentiate between male heterosexuals and homosexuals. Male homosexual behavior can be reduced or eliminated using painful electric shock or apomorphine vomiting with or without desensitizing male homosexual to females. Ego-dystonic homosexuals “self-referred” or sent by “government social service agencies” often have psychopathology and marked homophobia. “Homophobia” is best characterized as a revulsion related to homosexual practices or openly homosexual persons. Many “cured” male homosexuals continue to have powerful homosexual urges without erectile function with sexual partners. Despite protracted aversive intervention, male homosexuals continue to have autonomic pupil responses to male stimuli. Aversion therapy and other invasive treatments are punitive and pose serious ethical concerns.