Weekly Column
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The goal of a reporter should be to tell a story as accurately as possible and paint a realistic portrait. Facts should be vigorously checked and follow-up questions asked. Unfortunately, the Oprah Winfrey Network’s Our America with Lisa Ling produced an indulgent puff-piece on “ex-gay” programs, “Pray the Gay Away”, that included gross factual inaccuracies resulting from a lack of research and lazy reporting.
Some of Ling’s mistakes were prosaic, yet annoying, such as using the term “gay lifestyle”, even though the 1980’s have been over for quite some time. I’m surprised she didn’t regress even further and refer to gay people as “inverts”. Ling’s excuse was that she was trying to make the “ex-gay” activists comfortable by speaking their lifestyle lingo.
I’m curious if she would extend the same courtesy to a white supremacist group while they politely discussed other minorities in a pejorative way? Furthermore, even if the phrase was uttered within a conversation, it should never have made it out of the editing booth. The fact that Ling and her assistants did not pick up on the obnoxious “lifestyle” phrase and leave it on the cutting room floor suggests a surprising cluelessness.
However, it was not the style (or lifestyle) of the report that was so upsetting, but the lack of substance. Ling shamefully allowed herself to be used by Exodus International, an extreme “ex-gay” group that desperately wanted an image makeover after being tied to the deadly Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda. Sadly, Ling never brought up that Exodus board member Don Schmierer joined a Holocaust revisionist at a conference in Kampala to drop what was called “a nuclear bomb on the gay agenda.”
The enterprising reporter also omitted any reference to spiritual warfare – commonly known as the exorcism – that is a major part of “ex-gay” programs. Exodus President Alan Chambers has said, “One of the many evils this world has to offer is the sin of homosexuality. Satan, the enemy, is using people to further his agenda to destroy the Kingdom of God and as many souls as he can.”
Why did Ling conveniently overlook such disturbing views? Couldn’t she at least have asked Chambers why many of his inflammatory statements in support of spiritual warfare were at odds with the milquetoast image Exodus was peddling in the mainstream media?
Ling was completely uninterested in Exodus’ nefarious lobbying efforts, including the group’s work to pass Proposition 8 in California and enthusiastic support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban marriage equality in the United States constitution. Could Ling not have taken a moment to explain how Exodus vigorously opposed federal hate crime legislation, was in favor of sodomy laws, and is still fighting against all efforts to protect students from bullying in schools?
No, it was more important for Ling to humanize a group of activists dedicated to dehumanizing LGBT people than to state the plain facts. Better to produce a tearjerker for Oprah than shine a spotlight on the anti-gay jerks causing tears for their victims.
It was also perplexing that Ling failed to include psychological experts to point out that such programs are rejected by every mainstream medical and mental health organization in America. During a live discussion of the topic directly following the show, a psychologist was featured. But, as soon as she told the truth about Exodus and said it was based on “quack therapy” they ushered her off the air. I guess expert opinion wasn’t as good for ratings as helping Exodus peddle its fairytale.
Speaking of fairytales, Chambers audaciously portrayed his marriage as true bliss and told Ling, “It (sex with his wife) felt natural, absolutely, and has every day for our entire marriage.”
What? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Chambers admitted that it took 9 months to consummate his marriage and said at a 2007 Love Won Out conference in Phoenix that to remain “ex-gay” he must “deny what comes naturally to me.”
Why didn’t Ling ask Chambers, “If your experience with your wife was so natural, then why are you saying that you deny what comes naturally to you?” Needless to say, Chambers was ecstatic with the false portrayal of his organization and his marriage.
“I would like to extend my thanks to Lisa Ling for the courtesy, sensitivity and respect she demonstrated during our interviews and the filming at our 35th annual conference,” wrote Chambers on Exodus’ blog.
Ex-gay therapy is a scam that exploits desperate and vulnerable people. Instead of an infomercial for Exodus, the focus of Ling’s piece should have been on the harm the group causes its victims. The Oprah Winfrey Network should take Ling’s embarrassing segment off its website and not re-air it until factual inaccuracies are corrected.
Any chance there is a program to pray away lousy journalism?
These are great critiques Wayne. I’m glad you’re doing this. I hate this idea that there are “two sides” to these horrible organizations. I also hate this idea by so many of the posters on this site that Exodus is okay because they’re not forcing anyone into their programs. In the first place–as someone who’s parents forced him into one of these programs I don’t believe it’s true. In the second, if a drug company was selling a drug that didn’t work and could be harmful we wouldn’t just say “well they’re not holding a gun to anyone’s head to force them to take this”.
Good job Wayne. Keep up the good work in pointing out the lies these organizations tell.
It would be great if OWN pays attention to these.
Gee, Wayne, I wonder if you bothered to ask any of these questions like a journalist would before your little ill-informed diatribe. Truth Wins Out, eh?
People like you would never be happy with anything less than full throated condemnation. Thats not journalism, Wayne, thats propaganda.
As an out gay man who has been a peer counselor and active in causes, I was proud of Lisa Ling for getting people to open up and tell their sides, because there arent 2 sides, there are hundreds of thousands and until you learn to engage the other sides, we all just broadcasting to ourselves.
But thats your goal here. How brave.
Jay, if you had bothered to do a little more research before your ill-informed diatribe you would know that Wayne offered all of his background information to Ling when the program was announced and she and OWN didn’t answer.
As for your “2 sides” I don’t think there are 2 sides when one side (Exodus) is entirely based on lies.
The victims of these “Ex-Gay Ministries” need to lawyer up and lawyer up with GOOD lawyers. Then and only then will Miss Ling in Miss Oprah pay attention. The victims of these Ex-Gay Ministries should not only go after Exodus and their ilk, but go after OWN and Lisa Ling for not getting the story correct.
There’s got to be someone out there who would take the case….I haven’t seen Gloria Allred in the news lately…..she might jump on this!
Jay there is only one side to this issue. Exodus promotes the idea that gays are broken and evil, destroys young people’s self-esteem and then swoops in to sell the “cure” – its own snake oil. You being proud of Ling for getting people to “tell their stories” is the same as a reporter interviewing charles manson and never questioning his claims that he is a good moral person who never hurt anyone.
Jay, that is the DUMBEST thing I have ever read here.
lets change it a bit for example
Shall we give respect to the “people should be free to abuse children” perspective?…it is a “side” to.
“I feel called to beat my wife…you should to, for the betterment of yourself and society”….do those espousing that opinion deserve to be heard?
“I think you should deny you are, and live a sexless life, or one married to a person of the other gender you are not truly attracted to becuase it makes ME feel better about your soul and I think my views on organizing society outrank your freedom and rights and good mental health”
……….oh, wait, that last one is the one you JUST SAID DESERVED TO BE RESPEECTED enought to be given airtime!!!!!
What the hell are you smoking?
I agree that the program was a massive FAIL….. just one question: How much longer must we as readers be subjected to the image of that vacuously grinning imbecile as soon as we open this site? The photo of Lisa is disturbing!
I hardly see attacking Jay as productive. He stated his opinion and has valid points. This exposè was not about Wayne, it was about those who were interviewed.
Natalie. Just because something is someone’s opinion doesn’t mean everyone else has to shut up and let it slide when that opinion is stupid.
@Dan, just because an opinion is different from your’s does not make it stupid. It just makes it different. It is not up to you to “let it slide” as Jay is a grown man and does not need your permission to have any opinion. Nor does being apart of the LGBT community mean we all have to follow each other. Your attacking him says more about you, negatively that is, than it does him.
Anon said “@Dan, just because an opinion is different from your’s does not make it stupid.”.
Dan never said it was Jay’s opinion being different from his that made it stupid. Jay’s opinion was stupid because it was stupid, not because it was different.
anon–I didn’t say Jay’s opinion was stupid because it differed from mine. I said it was stupid because it was uninformed and ignored the facts. He made a lot of statements that were easily disproved by simply watching his video and/or reading other posts on this site. There are lots of opinions that I disagree with that aren’t stupid–this doesn’t happen to be one of those.
I’m with Jay on this one. Extremist on all sides, leaves everyone alone. Lisa Ling’s job was to treat this as a journalist, not as a gay advocate. She was fair and upfront and those who were watching will have seen the Exodus explainations for the rheotric and bullsh*#t they were. If I was a gay christian teen trying to reconcile my beliefs with my orientation, I would have seen the “happy gay christian camp” as a beacon…and Lisa spent a lot of time highlighting the benefits of organizations like these. I think the best thing she did was give air time to the Exodus group…after watching one segment of them, it was clear they were all just lying to themselves.
Chantal, it is not “extremist” to expect a journalist to report important facts and not go out of her way to suppress them.
I saw bits and pieces of the piece Lisa did, as we do not yet get the OWN network here. What I did see was a respectful piece of journalism, especially for someone who comes with a specific view point (Lisa is a prominent gay advocate). Yet she chose to delve into doing a provocative piece of journalism.
For myself…having been once a gay identified man, who now would identify himself as straight…my understanding of myself came with a revelation and an encounter with God, who called me out of a gay identity. It wasn’t Exodus, nor people, or organizations, or ministries…it was a personal encounter that I had with God that changed my life.
I will say that I was fortunate to have ministries and people who walked with me in this journey, who respected my experience, even though they may not understand fully or even accept my encounter with God.
What surprised me though was the lack of grace, the almost hatred that I received from those who I once called my friends, who turned their backs on me, because I now thought differently than before. Rather than a respecting of my decision as a human being, I was now faced with contempt and anger.
Maybe my hope would be that the “us” verses “them” mentality would eventually fade away…but my hunch is that it won’t. As I read this report, there was so much hate and anger expressed…that it is hard to even think that there could ever be an extension of grace or a love and respect for someone who thinks differently…the same love and respect that the writer is asking of those of faith.
“it was a personal encounter that I had with God that changed my life.”
Kenny, I’m sorry to say this… but that sounds crazy and like you’ve been brainwashed. It’s no surprise your gay friends reacted the way they did.
“my understanding of myself came with a revelation and an encounter with God, who called me out of a gay identity. It wasn’t Exodus, nor people, or organizations, or ministries”