Tonight’s presentation of “Pray Away the Gay?” on the Oprah Winfrey Network was not horrible — it was respectful and sensitive to all sides — but nor was it balanced.
The first 40 minutes of the program were devoted largely to journalist Lisa Ling’s encounters with a series of ex-gays who admitted facing long struggles against their sexual orientation. Her interactions were frequently supervised and steered by Exodus personnel.
The final 20 minutes, and portions of a live call-in program that followed, portrayed sexual-minority people of faith. Among them were Exodus co-founder Michael Bussee, his same-sex partner, and participants in a gay-affirming Christian camp affiliated with The Naming Project — living ordinary lives with integrity.
As far as they went, the documentary and call-in show portrayed both gay Christians and ex-gays with sensitivity. And we’re grateful to Bussee and The Naming Project for presenting viewers with a positive alternative to the Exodus lifestyle of shame, denial, and deceit.
But throughout the program and call-in show, no references were made to Exodus’ ongoing political and social warfare against sexual minorities. The result for viewers was a false impression that Exodus minds its own business and engages in no dishonesty, harassment, or violence toward gay people.
The program’s first segment prominently featured Exodus’ Minnesota leader Janet Boynes, who is simultaneously the liaison of an Exodus-affiliated church and the head of a self-named shell organization, Janet Boynes Ministries, which houses Boynes’ associations with antigay political extremists. When antigay people seek an Exodus-affiliated church in Minnesota, Exodus refers them to Boynes and just a few other member activists.
On Ling’s program, Boynes rationalized the work of local ex-gay ministries. Boynes served as Ling’s liaison to a young and unhappy ex-gay man named Christian.
At least 15 minutes were devoted to following Boynes and her protégé; not one mention was made of Boynes’ recent work alongside Bradlee Dean (a kill-the-gays youth punk rocker/preacher) in Minnesota; Boynes’ ties to WallBuilders leader David Barton, who calls for gays to be imprisoned; or Boynes’ support for Rep. Michele Bachmann, who equates all gay people with pedophiles and demands that gay workers in Minnesota be fired and left unprotected from hate crimes.
In a live call-in program that followed the documentary, callers were given no opportunity to identify and question Boynes’ political activism. Nor was any mention made of Exodus’ misrepresentation of scientists and their studies of sexual orientation. And no references were made to Exodus’ role in co-launching the Uganda campaign for a kill-the-gays law.
Lisa Ling is a sincere and professional woman who is sympathetic to gay people of faith and the cause of equality. However, she appears to have sold out journalistic objectivity in order to obtain the cooperation of Exodus, which has become reluctant in recent years to talk with media representatives that question its political warfare.
Well said, Mike.
Truth Wins Out will offer more analysis on this show tomorrow.
For the record, Ling was offered deep background by Truth Wins Out. Sadly, she refused the offer and the result was a ton of misinformation and gullibility when it came to the misinformation presented by Exodus’ Alan Chambers.
As Mike pointed out, there was no political context to the story — which is actually a central part of this issue.
This all could have been avoided had Ling been intellectually curious and tried to get it right instead of fast-track a deeply flawed piece that missed the mark.
I do agree that Ling tried to get all “sides” — but in doing so, she actually missed the true story.
Tomorrow, Truth Wins Out will reveal what the true story actually is — so reporters like Link can get it right in the future.
Thank you for telling the truth. Lisa Ling says that Exodus is a legitimate organization and that anyone who disagrees with her is a bigot. She thinks that Chambers’ line, “I am not saying homosexuality is wrong, God is,” should be accepted by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and if we fight back we are bigots. She thinks gay bashing is just being “criticized” (her word).
All week Alan Chambers and Exodus promoted the Our America broadcast as “FEATURING” Exodus, and feature them Lisa Ling did, giving them a free bully pulpit to beg for blood money and incite more violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender Americans.
Ling even has the audacity to go as far as to perpetuate Chambers lie that Exodus does not “recruit” but obviously Ling did not check out this claim, and blocked me on Twitter when I sent her ALL the links refuting that lie.
Michael–Although I don’t agree with your agenda–I do not disparage it–and I think some of what you ‘attack’ is largely indefensible.
A bit more narrowly I just want to ask you be careful about the “connect the dots” mode of attack. I think we are responsible to account for our connections, relationships, and who we hang out with.
But bad cases of “connect the dots” can end up with just as much stink as bad conspiracy theories. Your paragraph starting with “at least 15 minutes” is such a bad case.
There are plenty of real things to disagree about and work out through relationship and public conversation. We don’t need to spend time creating bogeymen (including people on “my side” turning gay persons into bogeyment) who we then proceed to destroy. We’ve solved nothing but destroy each other.
[...] Oprah Winfrey Network Turns Blind Eye to Ex-Gay Janet Boynes’ Politics. Read more [...]
@ “lovetruthlove” – “Your agenda?” Interesting word choice which foreshadowed the concluding paragraph’s “my side.” I’m glad you didn’t wedge in the buzz phrase “lifestyle choice” as well.
The dots that were connected, alas, were facts, facts, facts.
Now, please present the information and explain why these facts are a “bad case of connect the dots” (and “stink,” as well).
Comparison/contrast examples and rhetorical flourishes such as “don’t agree/don’t disparage” or “don’t condone, but don’t condemn” tend to be confusing, so please, just point-by-point refutations/defenses of the seven points (and link references) in the paragraph with which you’re taking issue.
Otherwise, I’ll be tempted to dismiss your comment, padded though it is with layers of “niceness,” as just equivocation.
As to Ms. Boynes: I find that “love the bigot, hate the bigotry” is a phrase well-suited to her “love the sinner, hate the sin” world view – just as strong, just as offensive and judgmental, and just as obviously self-defeating.
We have to present the facts that Ling wouldn’t to the general public. Cable news won’t do enough. You should call Oprah or another popular nationally-broadcasted program and show what Exodus is really about.
lovetruthlove–I don’t agree with your “agenda” either. I think it’s sad that so many people confuse their anti-gay feelings with “love” or “truth”. It’s just bigotry plain and simple.
I’m a gay man and a queer therapist who’s started building relationships with local churches and Christian counseling centers to further acceptance of LGBTQ people and their families through person-to-person contact. I believe that approach needs to be balanced with strategic legislative, judicial, religious and cultural endeavors for systemic change. That’s why I organized an amicus brief last year for the case against Prop 8. I agree that we don’t need to create bogeymen. There’s enough to do dialoging with the “moveable middle” and those who are actively supporting disrespect of us. I do want to be informed about connections between people biased against us, and I want to hold those perceptions flexibly enough that when I ask them about them, I can respond to their truth about what those connections/collaborations mean. At the end of this month, I’m participating in a 3-day event on the “Bible and Homosexuality” held at a local Church of Christ in Richmond, California. I hope a respectful dialog at the event can help everyone have more acceptance for everyone and I support California Senate Bill 747 which would require licensed therapists and social workers to have LGBTQ competency training in order to renew their license. I wish we didn’t have to require LGBTQ training because the system has enough competent education built into it without legislation, but where would civil rights be if it hadn’t been supported by legislation, the courts and the DOJ’s change on DOMA? Coming out and relating to non-queers is needed too. If you want to know more about the event in Richmond, California, which is near Berkeley, please email me at therapist@lgbtcounseling.com
Goddess! I am so sick and tired of this wingnut “ex-gay” b******t. I don’t care if this cretin believes that her sky-pixie thinks GLBT orientation is wrong. She can just go take a hike.
Won’t watch Oprah Winfrey Network anyhow…the woman is too full of herself. Now this gives me another reason not to tune in.
Wayne, I hope you speak out about the Lisa Ling joke show. She is pushing an agenda (I don’t know why) trying to portray Exodus as a loving accepting organization who don’t judge or harm gays. At the end of the show, Alan Chambers made a cryptic, vague statement about meeting gays in heaven. He was talking in the vein of the thief next to Christ on the cross who repented at the last minute. Chambers was very careful craft the statement so it could be misconstrued as “accepting” and Lisa Ling took it hook, line, and sinker. On the Gayle King after show, Lisa kept saying how she was so pleasantly surprised by how Exodus was no longer recruiting and how even Alan Chambers said he would meet gays in heaven.
Lisa Ling was totally unprofessional by not following up on any of this. Alan Chambers believes any gay behavior is SINFUL and you will burn in eternity unless you repent. That is what he was talking about. Plus Lisa Ling totally glossed over the fact that Exodus is a cash business that only exists by finding new victims to fund them – the same as the African-American ex-lesbian preacher that Lisa Ling featured. Their literal livelihood is to make money off ex-gays. That is how they pay their mortgage, feed their family, etc. I hope you publish more about this travesty because Lisa Ling is promoting the lie that Exodus is now a soft, cuddly, loving organization and embraces gays in heaven.
When I heard the show was going to be on OWN I was surprised. I said to my wife, “Maybe that network’s going to be more than I gave it credit for”. Now I see my former expectations were accurate. Pablum for the masses, not serious and accurate reporting.
I’m curious if anyone has done an investigation on Lisa Ling. She had such a clear agenda in the show to soften and improve Exodus’ image. In the Gayle King show she kept defending herself saying she has gay friends. I wonder if one of her friends is attempting to go ex-gay, or Lisa recently joined a fundie church or what – but something is definitely going on for her to have been so gullible.
Sorry, I forgot to mention another very telling moment. On the follow up show, they let Rashad Robinson from GLAAD speak and he said some excellent things. But watch very closely as he points out how in most states, gays can walk into work and be instantly fired for simply existing as gay people. When he said that, Gayle deadpanned “uh-huh” and had a glazed look. She is totally unaware of these outrageous injustices and was even doubting Rashad’s comments. This is precisely the ignorance we are dealing with. People like Gayle and Lisa operate in high profile world in which they assume everyone loves gays and treats them fairly. They are blissfully unaware of the massive inequalities out there.
[...] Ling clearly initiated the use of the term during an interview with anti-lesbian activist Janet Boynes, who runs a failed “ex-gay” ministry in Minneapolis. This is what we’d expect [...]
That Boynes woman is a horror. When they had her on the follow-up program, I wanted in the worst way to call up and tell her, “Lady, you’re a DYKE! DEAL!!!” But I couldn’t get through, and at the end they failed to get to a call that Gayle King PROMISED to get to before the final commercial break.
EPIC FAIL.