I often end speaking engagements on the so-called “ex-gay” myth by comparing the charade to a play. I tell audiences that “ex-gays” are  “like actors playing a role and in the end the final curtain of reality comes crashing down.”

It turns out that in Atlanta, a very surreal curtain will soon be lifted to reveal a bizarre play that promotes “freedom” from homosexuality and trashes gay life.  Southern Voice, Atlanta’s LGBT publication, says that “Once Upon a Dream,” liberally uses the words “faggot,” “queer” and “abomination” in a negative way. It will show at the 14th Street Playhouse, conveniently nestled in Midtown, Atlanta’s gay neighborhood.

The show’s producer, Toni Henson, told Southern Voice in an e-mail that her production company wants to partner with area churches “to reach out to 155 million practicing homosexuals as we launch this unique, bible-based Christian ministry through this dramatic stage play.”

Wow, 155 million homosexuals in a country of 3oo million. One would think Gay Pride would have been a bit more crowded given such a surprising surge in our population. Hmm, now we know how Exodus leader Alan Chambers came up with his peculiar figure of “hundreds of thousands” of ex-gays – he must have employed Henson as his statistician.

Henson’s e-mail goes onto say: “‘Once Upon a Dream’ tackles the tough Issue… 1) Is FREEDOM from homosexuality possible? 2) Can I be gay and Christian? 3) How is same sex marriage & the pro-gay agenda affecting the church? 4) What are the risks if my church does outreach to gays?”

I guess that if one considers “freedom” self-denial, then it is possible. We can only imagine what risks there might be to a wholesome church if it reaches out to cootie-ridden homosexuals. And, what do you bet that the manufactured gay agenda they present won’t include the items:

I. Full Equality Under The Law

II. Being Left Alone And Free From Annoying Religious Zealots Who Promote Offensive Plays That Distort Out Lives

There is one thing Henson got right — seeking advice from “ex-gay” activist and Drama Queen, D.L. Foster,  who is best known for his habit of drawing Hitler mustaches onto the pictures political opponents. In June 2006, Foster even drew one on yours truly. According to Exodus testimony, Foster had once engaged in orgies, drank and was hooked on poppers (is that even possible??), until he turned on basic cable late one evening:

“I slumped down in front of the TV and flipped it on,” wrote Foster. “When the screen came into focus, I saw an amazing sight: a badly beaten man dragging a heavy wooden cross through the streets of a city. Suddenly, the man stopped, and looked up at me as blood trickled down his face. Then he said, ‘I did this all for you.’ I began to weep uncontrollably as I realized Jesus had spoken to me.”

Given such a theatrical conversion, the play should be entertaining, to say the least. Instead of poppers, Mr. Foster can eat popcorn and watch his twisted vision of Biblical Broadway come to life. And, maybe Henson will win a Tony of Intolerance for her efforts to slime the GLBT community and promote simplistic and fictional versions of our lives.

While Exodus International maintains a don’t-support-don’t-oppose policy, some ex-gay activists have spoken out against the ex-gay exorcist church in Bridgeport, Conn.

The Fairfield Weekly reported June 18:

Rev. D.L. Foster, who heads Gay Christian Movement Watch, an Atlanta-based “ministry” that opposes the acceptance of homosexuality in the church, posted [the video] on his Web site.

“I thought what I saw in the video was bizarre and I don’t think [the practice depicted] is biblical,” Foster says. “There is a sense of spiritual coercion. You have a young man on the floor being stepped on, being videotaped.” He says he has seen incidents like this (he doesn’t condone them), but “this is extreme.”

Georgia-based ex-gay activist D.L. Foster is something of a leader within Exodus Global Alliance.

In recent years, Exodus has given Foster an international soapbox from which Foster affirmed violence and imprisonment in Jamaica and Barbados as tactics to coerce local gay people to closet themselves and pretend to be heterosexual.

At his blog Gay Christian Movement Watch today, Foster berated Canadian ex-gay advocate Wendy Gritter of New Direction for a comment yesterday here at Truth Wins Out. Gritter said:

I would go to a close friend’s gay wedding and yup, I’d bring a gift. I know that all of my close friends know what I believe about sexual ethics and would not assume my beliefs had changed but that my attendance was a sign of my love and friendship. I’m sure I would get some serious flack for this decision – but at the end of the day, I believe loving people is what God asks of me.

Unlike Jesus of Nazareth, Foster disapproves of — in his words — “hanging out with sinners.” Even though Foster has exploited the Exodus global network, Foster now warns antigay clergy not to support Exodus’ North American operation, Exodus International:

Pastors should not refer people to the organization until it can solidify its message and practice into one which is faithful to the Word of God not science, polls, surveys and people like Wendy Gritter.

Foster’s demand spotlights an apparent difference in approach, between the global alliance’s support for antigay violence and imprisonment, and the North American operation’s approach of hiring professional ex-gays to distort science and create appealing soundbites at ex-gay roadshows and ex-gay support-group meetings. Unlike Exodus in North America, Foster rejects science and critical thinking outright — advocating blind obedience to his selective and brutal reinterpretations of the “Word of God.”

So long as Exodus International affiliates with Exodus Global Alliance — thereby aiding ungracious and politically correct thugs like Foster — it puzzles me that relatively gracious moderates like Gritter bother to affiliate with Exodus International.

Surely there are effective and ideologically consistent ways to draw referrals and to promote one’s message, without sacrificing individual, intellectual, and religious freedom?