Exodus youth activist Mike Ensley says he frequently receives inquiries from antigay parents and youths about gay-straight clubs that unite students against violence and prejudice in schools.
“[W]hat are these clubs about?” Ensley asks. “What effects do they have on students and campuses?”
Ensley’s insinuation is clear: Despite their web sites with clearly written humanitarian objectives, gay-straight clubs must be secretive societies with sinister agendas.
Ensley’s response? Via Facebook, Ensley called today for private submissions of information, in which anonymous critics of GSAs would help Exodus spread gossip with impunity:
Hello, Members of Exodus Youth!
I’m putting out a request to those of you who have had any kind of involvement in or contact with a Gay-Straight Alliance club on your campus.
One of the biggest inquiries we get from youth workers and parents is, what are these clubs about? What effects do they have on students and campuses?
The only ones who really know are those of you who interact with the students and leaders of these clubs.
So please, if you have ever been involved in a GSA, or have witnessed its impact on your campus, message me and tell me your story. I might use what you have to say to educate parents and ministers (keeping you anonymous, of course).
It’d be best to email me here: mensley @ exodus.to
Thanks and God bless!
Why should Exodus be transparent, honest, and “Biblical,” after all, when anonymous gossip is so much more profitable?
Tags: education, Exodus International, gay-straight alliance, gossip, youthRelated posts
6 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Mike the facebook link leads no where because it leads to the user’s inbox - yours, I’m assuming - and we can’t see your inbox unless we login to your account. Can you post the text of the message or a screenshot (even better) please?
Comment by Emily K — September 10, 2008 @ 1:57 pm
Done — thanks, Emily.
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 10, 2008 @ 3:14 pm
“I might use what you have to say to educate parents and ministers.”
He forgot to include “so I can add my very own twist to your story. A little fucking here, a little pedophilia there, and I’ll throw in something about a cock ring for extra gasps too.”
Comment by Scott — September 11, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Scott, I doubt Ensley will go that far, but I think he is bound to choose comments that reinforce the ex-gay deathstyle.
Bullies, and their sympathizers at Exodus, oppose GSAs because they consider antigay harassment and prejudice not only a right but a moral strength.
They use a flimsy veneer of pop religion and godtalk, devoid of compassionate and just deeds, to justify their know-nothingism, self-satisfaction, and denial.
Intentional ignorance of their own wrongdoing, excused with talk of self-redemption and self-forgiveness through Jesus, permit people like Mike Ensley to persist in abusing youths with what they consider a clear conscience.
They know that most gay people don’t hang out in bars or do drugs in discos; they know that gay teachers don’t molest or “recruit” students; and they know that gay relationships often last decades.
But Exodus perpetuates fear with hints of such myths anyway, trusting in advice from the likes of James Dobson that it is truthful, compassionate, or loving to lie — or to parrot the lies of others — for the greater good.
While they are busy lying about gay people, their own lives are often in ruins: Arranging anonymous and unsafe sexual liaisons, quietly absorbing a daily diet of antigay prejudices and hatreds from “friends” and relatives, denying themselves an intimate loving relationship with someone special, enduring untreated depression and compulsion because they have been trained to fear mainstream mental-health professionals, and praying to an unjust fundamentalist god for a solution to the wrong problem.
By promoting peaceful coexistence, discussion, and understanding, GSAs represent a threat to the ex-gay deathstyle — and well they should.
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 11, 2008 @ 7:37 pm
Exodus has removed me from the Facebook group.
So much for their last conference’s promises of “transparency.”
Truth Wins Out encourages allies to submit verifiable information obtained from ex-gay organizations. If you have verifiable information, please contact us via our handy contact form:
http://www.truthwinsout.org/contact.html
Comment by Michael Airhart — September 13, 2008 @ 6:58 pm
[…] alarmed about the “resurgent left.” This kind of enthusiasm is coming from a man who advocates spreading gossip about school Gay-Straight Alliances, so really there isn’t that much […]
Pingback by Exodus Should Come Out of the Political Closet | Ex-Gay Watch — November 10, 2008 @ 6:12 am