Ex-Gay Watch points out that recent U.S. Internal Revenue Service filings confirm what Exodus International has long denied:
The abusive Christian Right quack-therapy network does try to change people’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual, despite executive director Alan Chambers’ ongoing insistence to the public that his “ministries” merely help people with “unwanted homosexuality” grow closer to godliness through a new ideological “identity” of ambiguous “holysexuality.”
Furthermore, the organization admits in its IRS Form 990 filings that it seeks to convert people’s sexual orientation against their will.
In 2006, for example, the organization budgeted more than $124,000 for “missions and other outreach projects (that) allow Exodus to reach individuals not actively seeking help who may be open to change.”
That’s Exodus-speak for “lobbying for harsh antigay laws” and “pressuring parents to detain their teen-age children in ex-gay boot-camps.”
In 2007, Exodus budgeted more than $342,000 to provide “various education programs and publications that explain how to change sexual orientation” at a time when Exodus publicly denied the existence of sexual orientation, preferring instead to characterize sexual attraction as nothing more than a label or “identity” that could easily be swapped out in favor of Exodus’ unholy redefinition of Christian faith.
Truth Wins Out was proud to be part of a protest in Auburn, New Hampshire on Saturday against Exodus International. The “ex-gay” hate conference was led by Andy Comisky, the leader of Desert Stream ministries. Here is what he says about LGBT people:
In his book “Pursuing Sexual Wholeness,” Comisky calls homosexuality “spiritual disfigurement” and believes that “Satan delights in homosexual perversion because it not only exists outside of marriage, but it also defiles God’ very image reflected as male and female…Another related source of demonization is the homosexual relationship itself…That attachment and communion are indeed inspired, but their source is demonic.”
Now that you have read his disgusting quote, you can see why we were out there at 8AM on a weekend morning. According to protest organizers Join the Impact Massachusetts:
Ninety protestors were on hand in rural Auburn, NH early Saturday morning, September 17, to greet attendees arriving for the Exodus International North Atlantic Regional Conference. Exodus is the country’s leading network of “ex-gay ministries” and a pillar of the anti-LGBT religious right.
Standing on a traffic island where cars exited the highway and lining the road leading to the conference site, LGBT activists and straight allies held signs, shouted chants, and sang freedom songs. Messages like “Be Yourself,” “Conversion Therapy Kills,” and “God Loves Me and She Knows I’m Gay” adorned colorfully decorated posters. Ian Struthers, Co-Chair of Join the Impact MA, struck up chants as cars passed, such as “Exodus, Exodus, Quack, Quack, Quack/You Can’t Change Gays and That’s a Fact.”
Demonstrators came from Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. The largest contingent came from South Church Unitarian Universalist in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, led by co-ministers the Rev. Chris Jablonski and the Rev. Lauren Smith. Join the Impact MA (“JTIMA”), which was lead organizer, brought several carloads up from Boston. Other groups represented included Truth Wins Out, the Harvard Queer Students and Allies, Get Equal, and the Anti-Violence Project of Massachusetts.
Like our successful protest in Houston the week before, the shrinking support and falling attendance for Exodus was noticeable.
We were also proud of Doinkers, our pooch, who attended her first protest.
Um, so I missed this yesterday, and I’m mostly inclined to let it pass, but here’s Victoria Jackson, who is apparently on the radio now, interviewing an “ex-gay” couple named Edward and Jessica. Apparently they met at an Exodus convention and they prayed the gay away together and I’m quite sure they have lots of sex, together.
You see, Edward became gay because his dad is a mean Cuban and Edward likes the performing arts. Jessica became a lesbian because her parents got divorced. Indeed, every time I go to a gay bar, the first question I ask is “Are you a Cuban or are your parents divorced?” It’s always one of those things.
If you listen long enough, you’ll get to hear Victoria recite a bible verse and then explain why she pictures herself in a harness with Jesus after she hears that verse.
Oh, and I really like the part where Edward says he is still “tempted by same sex attraction” [translation: "is into dudes"], but that he’s MORE tempted by chocolate cake. How very Blanche Devereaux. Anyway, enjoy!
The “ex-gay” known as Randy Thomas was just too much of a thooperthtar for Exodus International, apparently. To the delight of basically the entire LGBT blogging community, he who is “not gay anymore” has started his own blog, entitled, appropriately, “Confessions of an Ex-Gay ThooperThtar.” And what will you see when you visit?
Oh, my good sweet lord. What the HELL is that?
It’s just Randy Thomas, sittin’ around his room you guyz, definitely not bein’ gay, but bein’ a THOOPERTHTAR all the same! Even better, either Randy, one of the voices in his head or one of his various “not-gay” friends [which I imagine, for some reason, all look and smell like American Girl dolls], wrote what I can only assume is intended to be a song to introduce this glorious new venture:
If you made it through the horrifying song, that means you also got to see Randy, who yes, seems like a particularly tweaked out homosexual these days, queen out to and fro over whether Marcus Bachmann is gay or not. We can only assume he has a personal interest in the matter. Lady Birds of a feather, you know…
So far, it’s a pretty boring blog. He gives a “you go, girl!” to Alan “I Still Like Men” Chambers, giving his testimony at some wingnut confab.
In another post he shares one of his personal prayers:
“Dear Jesus, please help me to not see Edgar as an ass and for me to have the grace to not treat him like one either. Amen.”
I’m more of a chest man, but whatever.
Later in the same post, he says this:
But the truth is that being “ex-gay” is such a rare and stigmatized novelty that we as a 36 year old movement (at the time of this writing) are still figuring out what that actually means.
Oh, let me help, then. “Ex-gays” are the result of a really profitable industry that fundamentalist religious people use in order to convince themselves that they actually love gay people, even though they’re simply common bigots. They prey upon people who have experienced personal tragedy or simply made godawful choices and then they convince those people to spend LOTS of money with them, and to scapegoat all their personal shit on their sexuality. Most who go through these programs fail, and miserably. Many end up far more depressed than they were when they went in. Others end up committing suicide. Those who end up thoroughly brainwashed tend to find themselves on the payroll of one of the “ex-gay” businesses, until they get caught f*cking somebody of the same sex. Lather, rinse, repeat indeed.
Of course I don’t think of myself truly as an “ex-gay superstar.”
Nah, I was guessing the title of his new blog was more of a “fake it ’til you make it” sort of thing.
Aside from that there’s not much more in this cesspit of fail besides the fact that Randy went to the gym and worked with a personal trainer — he doesn’t share whether or not he got a boner that day — and that he’s all poopy upset about the mean gay blogs that are making fun of his new blogging venture. Here’s the funny part of that, because in just the last post I wrote, I discussed the bizarre wingnut habit of assuming that, when liberals are simply making fun of them, that we are actually angry. They do this, as Amanda pointed out, because they are passive-aggressive hypocrites, and because they can’t handle the simple fact that we’re mocking them. Here’s what the gay-by says:
So, dear gay reader who happens to be angry, if you are riled up and venomous, go ahead and bite. Get it all out. You won’t find anything but empathy and grace here.
Oh shush, you whiny little professional victim. You may be getting angry comments from a few readers — I mean, this is the internet — but the blogs that are making fun of you are not angry in the least. Moreover, the “empathy” and “grace” you market is a known sham, much like the protective guidance many Catholic priests offer children. The fact that you lisp around thweetly about your relationship with Jesus and your abandonment of the homoseckshul lifestyle, Randina, and the fact that you have sugary, meaningless things to say about “freedom” or whatever the hell it is you people prattle on about — all of this is irrelevant.
We are not angry. We’re laughing. At you, not with you. Because you are ridiculous.
LGBT Groups to Host Week of Education, Entertainment, and Protests to Show Harm of ‘Ex-Gay’ Programs in Houston
What: On September 10, the infamous “ex-gay” organization Exodus International will host Love Won Out in Houston, which is a quarterly road show promoting the false and dangerous idea that one can “pray away the gay.” (Sugar Creek Baptist Church)
In response, a coalition of local and national LGBT organizations will host a weeklong series of educational and entertainment events highlighting the harm caused by “ex-gay” programs. The week will conclude with a Saturday protest outside Love Won Out and an MCC church service highlighting the values of love, inclusion, diversity, tolerance, pluralism, and acceptance.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (All events open to media)
Opening Night: Overview of ‘Ex-Gay’ Ministries with Wayne Besen
Wednesday, September 7
7:00 – 9:00 pm Resurrection MCC (2025 West 11th Street, Houston TX)
Presentation followed by a Pastors’ Panel and Q&A Session
Event Info: Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen will discuss in an acclaimed multi-media presentation the history of ‘ex-gay’ programs, the techniques used, the key players involved and political context in which these dangerous programs operate. Besen is the architect of the recent undercover operation that revealed that the clinic of Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, practiced “ex-gay” therapy. Besen is the author of Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth. He has appeared on leading shows including: NBC Nightly News, ABC Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, ABC’s Good Morning America, FOX’s The O’Reilly Factor, MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Film Screening: This is What Love in Action Looks Like
Thursday, September 8
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Resurrection MCC (2025 West 11th Street, Houston TX)
Event Info: America was captivated when Zach Stark, a gay teenager, was forced by his parents into the Memphis “ex-gay” ministry Love in Action (LIA) against his will. This is What Love in Action Looks Like is a new film that explores the controversial LIA experience and shows how youth are coerced into “ex-gay” programs. Film director Morgan Jon Fox and interviewee Brandon Tidwell will be on-hand to answer questions about the film and “ex-gay” programs.
One Man Show: Peterson Toscano
Friday, September 9
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Resurrection MCC (2025 West 11th Street, Houston TX)
Event Info: Celebrated comedian and actor Peterson Toscano shares his own story of trying to ‘de-gay’ himself and the process he took to integrate his sexuality with all parts of his life. In this presentation you will witness the Best of Peterson Toscano as he presents excerpts from original plays including The Re-Education of George W. Bush, Queer 101–Now I Know my gAy,B,Cs, and Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House. Peterson will also share extracts from his newest play, Transfigurations, which looks at the stories and lives of transgender Bible characters. Peterson is the co-founder of Beyond Ex-Gay and has been featured on the Montel Williams Show, The Tyra Banks Show, FOX’s The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, and the BBC.
Protest of Exodus International’s Love Won Out
Saturday, September 10
11:30AM – 1:00PM
Outside the Sugar Creek Baptist Church (13333 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX)
Founded in 1972, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church serves more than 850 members and friends and is one of the largest congregations within Metropolitan Community Churches, a Christian denomination with churches in more than 35 countries. The church is widely known for its positive, affirming ministry to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, along with their friends, families and allies, and for its strong commitment to social justice as an expression of the congregation’s Christian faith. For additional information on the ministry, services, and programs of Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, visit www.ResurrectionMCC.org.
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that fights anti-LGBT religious extremism. TWO specializes in turning information into action by organizing, advocating and fighting for LGBT equality.
When Willow Creek Community Church’s quiet decision to break ties with ex-gay organization Exodus International surfaced recently, the church earned itself the ire of Illinois hate group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality [the one that famously lost its tax-exempt status in 2010]. AFTAH is calling the decision of its fellow Christians at Willow Creek “unbiblical.” In the organization’s blog, Americans for Truth, the group called for a vigil outside the church on August 11-12 to protest the “puzzling disassociation,” with leader Peter LaBarbera calling it a “stunning capitulation to the gay lobby.” [They disapprove, too, of Willow Creek's having brought in other "heretical teachers," like Tony Blair.]
Willow Creek isn’t the only big church to have broken ties with Exodus recently, as Ex-Gay Watch has reported. And in another humiliation for Exodus, the government of New Zealand declined to allow Exodus tax-exempt status last year; a commission there said “the trust was not performing any public benefit because homosexuality was not a mental disorder and did not need curing.” Inspired, the New Democratic Party in Canada, according the blog Slap Upside the Head, introduced a resolution at its convention in June to deny tax-exempt status to ex-gay organizations, too.
Don’t make the mistake of assuming that its distancing itself from Exodus means Willow Creek is beginning to accept homosexuality. It isn’t. When Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made news after he changed his mind and decided not to address the church, its pastor, Reverend Bill Hybels, made haste to clarify Willow Church’s views. The church “challenges” people “to live out the sexual ethics taught in scriptures”: marry the opposite sex, or else “maintain sexual abstinence and purity.” Sounds familiar. What’s Peter LaBarbera so upset about?
On May 29, 2005, 16-year-old Tennessee youth Zach Stark announced on his MySpace blog that he had come out to his parents, and that they had reacted with shock and grief.
Shortly thereafter — apparently after consulting with their church and Exodus International — Stark’s parents told him that there was something “psychologically wrong” with him, and that they had raised him wrong. As a result, they said, Zach would be involuntarily detained at Exodus International’s flagship residential ex-gay youth program, Love In Action/Refuge, for a minimum of two weeks of shame-based ex-gay therapy.
Six years later, Stark, his friends, and other LIA and Refuge program participants are now speaking out about their experiences in Morgan Jon Fox’s newly released documentary, This Is What Love In Action Looks Like.
Friends of Zach read his blog and were alarmed by the shame and fear to which he would be subjected. Utilizing then-nascent social media, they mobilized a viral campaign of parents, youths, doctors, and counselors who affirmed dignity, unconditional love, and faith in the youths who were being detained and shamed by Exodus International.
Stark’s detention was subsequently extended from two weeks to eight, and during that time Exodus’ alleged mistreatment of youths drew national attention through the New York Times, CNN, and Montel Williams’ daytime talk show. The state of Tennessee soon sought to intervene on behalf of the abused youths, only to be pushed back by politicians and by Exodus’ assertions that parents have a religious right to “minister” to youths in this fashion.
At the end of Stark’s initial ordeal, I wrote that it was time to give Stark privacy to recover, regroup, and choose how to move on.
In the years since, Stark has built an apparently healthy life as a young adult and college student, grateful that his friends and allies were so “awesome” in affirming and supporting him and other detained youths.
In fact, the title of the documentary is not so much an ironic reflection upon LIA’s name and abusive environment, as it is a reflection of the love which mobilized hundreds of people in 2005 to rally for the detained youths, remind them that they are loved, and reassure them that Exodus’ shame and fear were undeserved.
Besides Stark, the documentary catches up with Lance Carroll, who was age 17 when he was detained in LIA at the same time as Stark, and Brandon Tidwell, who in his early twenties had voluntarily attended LIA but later joined Stark’s friends in the 2005 protests.
The un-narrated documentary allows Stark, Carroll, and Tidwell to recount their experiences entirely in their own words. Their recollections stand in sharp contrast against the rosy public assurances of Exodus president Alan Chambers to a skeptical and increasingly annoyed Montel Williams. The documentary also tracks the evolution of former LIA executive director John J. Smid from hard-core ex-gay activist in 2005, into an apologetic man who, while still advocating ex-gay as well as gay-affirming counseling, today acknowledges love and faith in LGBT communities.
Veteran ex-gay survivor Peterson Toscano provides context for documentary viewers who might be unfamiliar with ex-gay beliefs, tactics, and self-contradictions. Meanwhile, Stark’s Tennessee friends and allies — writer Chris Davis, Queer Action Coalition co-founders Morgan Jon Fox and Janessa Williams, community organizer Janelle Treibitz, blogger E.J. Friedman, and friends Eileen Townsend and Jake Casey – all offer a rich tapestry of memories and lessons learned from their campaign to support Stark.
While the motivations of Stark’s personal friends to stand by him may be self-evident, Davis explains how — as a parent — he was drawn to the campaign by his revulsion at the sight of parents and amateur preachers practicing “shame therapy” against children. Mental-health experts chime in with recollections of past harm committed by therapists in the 1960s before the mental-health community understood orientation and sexual identity, and these experts note that today’s ex-gay movement reflects an ongoing refusal to learn from decades’ worth of new facts. True to form, and despite all facts to the contrary, LIA spokesman Gerard Wellman tells us (in archival media clips) that homosexuality is about shameful sex acts, not romantic emotion, orientation, or biology — and that Christianity is all about managing “sinful” desires, and not so much about charity, grace, justice, or unconditional love.
Exodus’ method of managing clients’ desires should raise alarm, even among conservatives:
Carroll and Tidwell share vivid memories of Exodus’ “moral inventory,” a process by which LIA clients are forced to share with an audience the graphic details of their worst sexual experience. Instead of forgiveness or grace, the audience responds by reinforcing the youths’ humiliation. Carroll came away from LIA feeling “not safe”; instead, LIA was “very controlling and intrusive.” Carroll’s parents learned from Exodus to carry on the shame at home — resulting eventually in physical outbursts by his mother, and his departure.
Today, Carroll and Treibitz emphasize that they would have no strong objection to a conservative adult freely choosing to attend an ex-gay program — but they draw the line when parents seek to subject youths to a program of involuntary abuse in which shame and fear are presented as the only choice.
Changed by his exposure to the respectful and affirming tone of the protests, director Smid left LIA in 2008. Smid says he came to realize that his religious calling — outreach to the LGBT community — was not congruent with LIA and its churches’ implicit determination to ostracize and shame gay people.
LIA is still in operation today, although the Refuge youth program closed in 2007; LIA’s remnants have moved to smaller facilities. Exodus, meanwhile, appears to have learned nothing. The organization still blames parents for their children’s sexual orientation, even as it tricks the same parents into surrendering their kids to parent-bashing amateur counselors. The documentary notes that Exodus is actually expanding its efforts over the next couple years to shame and detain youths as young as 12 through its church network and renamed “student ministry.” Exodus officials declined to speak with the documentary producers.
Carroll credits the love-based protest for helping him survive his ordeal, and Davis voices confidence that, while Exodus continues to abuse, other Christians are moving past shame as a method of evangelism and social change.
Screenings of This Is What Love In Action Looks Like are scheduled in the eastern and southern United States:
August 27 at SHOUT, the Birmingham LGBT Film Fest
September 10 at the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
September 20 at ReRun Theatre, in New York City
September 29-October 6 at OUT ON FILM, the Atlanta LGBT Film Festival
November 4 at Indie Memphis Film Festival
November 3-12 at REELING, the Chicago LGBT Film Festival
Disclosure: Truth Wins Out volunteer writer/cartoonist Bruce Garrett is, independent of TWO, an associate producer for this film. Lance Carroll assists Truth Wins Out in educating the public about the survivors of ex-gay “therapy.”
In summer 2011, Truth Wins Out infiltrated Bachmann & Associates to see if the clinic’s therapists practiced “ex-gay” (aka reparative) therapy. We launched this operation after presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, claimed that his business did not take part in the discredited practice of converting homosexuals into heterosexuals. TWO’s investigation discovered incontrovertible evidence that “ex-gay” therapy did, in fact, occur at Bachmann & Associates.
Included in our trove of evidencewasa notorious book by Janet Boynes, Called Out: A Former Lesbians Discovery of Freedom, stacked high and sold at the clinic. Prominently displayed above the pile of books was a personal endorsement from Marcus Bachmann:
“Janet is a friend. I recommend this book as she speaks to the heart of the matter and gives practical insights of truth to set people free. – Marcus Bachmann, PhD”
Boynes reciprocated the love in the “Acknowledgments” section of her book:
“Marcus and Michele, when we met, our friendship was instant, and you never left my side when things got tough. To watch your walk with God gives me strength, courage, and hope.”
In 2005, Marcus Bachmann gave a presentation, “The Truth About the Homosexual Agenda,” at the “Minnesota Pastors’ Summit.” The City Pages reported that Boynes was one of three “ex-gay” activists Bachmann trotted up on-stage during his PowerPoint.
While at the pulpit, Boynes said, “If I was born gay, then I’ll have to be born again.” An eyewitness said, “The crowd went crazy,” when she delivered her signature line.
Given her close ties to the Bachmann family, many people are clamoring to know: Who is Janet Boynes?
The quick answer is that she is the Religious Right’s “ex-gay” du jour, embraced by leaders of Southern Poverty Law Center-certified hate groups such as Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, and Peter LaBarbera, founder of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. Anti-gay activists from Bishop Harry Jackson to Gary Bauer tout her alleged conversion as proof that sexual orientation can be changed. In her book, Boynes claims that she met George W. Bush at a fundraiser in 2006 and that the president “told me I was a beautiful person.” (p. 67)
Boynes is also the Exodus International contact person for Living Word Christian Center, located in Brooklyn Park, MN. For the unacquainted, Exodus in the largest “ex-gay” organization in the world and is dedicated to, “Freedom from Homosexuality through Jesus Christ.”
The Religious Right’s “ex-gay” flavor of the moment (many others have either come out or been scandalized) is also the founder of Janet Boynes Ministries, which runs a prayer line and support group. It appears that Boynes is also the driving force behind the National Ex-Gay Educators’ Caucus, a politicized anti-gay front group that hosts a booth each year at the National Education Association’s annual meeting. The goal of this campaign is to promote the notion that “people deserve to hear all the facts so they can make their own decisions [on sexual conversion]” and to let students know that “for those who truly want change, change is possible.”
Recently, Boynes has become a media darling – she graced the cover of Charisma magazine in June and her tale of conversion was featured in a much-maligned Lisa Ling special on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in March. The entrepreneurial Boynes was also interviewed on HLN’s Dr. Drew Show in April. Rev. Pat Robertson’s 700 Club aired a segment in which they called her alleged transformation “an amazing story.”
Given her level of celebrity and access to powerful political connections, one would think that Boynes might be an impressive individual of great accomplishment.
Have you noticed that for the past couple of years I have not appeared on the same television or radio shows as Exodus International’s Alan Chambers? There is a good reason for this — it is because the sniveling coward has instructed producers that they will lose access to all “ex-gays” if TWO spokespeople are interviewed.
As of today, four trusted media sources have confirmed that the strategy of the flailing “ex-gay” industry is to blacklist Truth Wins Out. We have learned that the despicable conspiracy is spearheaded by Chambers. Clearly, this is because he can’t hold his own in a real debate and wants to handpick his opponents, so he won’t look like the pathological liar and fraud that he truly is.
What terrifies these charlatans is that Truth Wins Out has institutional knowledge and can quickly challenge their blatant misinformation. They simply can’t get away with lies when we are there to debunk their phony claims. Because they cannot defeat our message, they have tried to decapitate the messenger. This speaks to the weakness of their arguments, the low character of activists such as Chambers, and a lack of confidence in fending off credible allegations of consumer fraud.
We urge all producers to act in an ethical and professional manner and not allow Chambers and his underlings to choose whom they debate. That would essentially be allowing Chambers, and other wimps like PFOX’s Greg Quinlan, to stack the deck. By letting this happen, producers are in collusion with the “ex-gay” industry and harming the LGBT movement.
The scurrilous effort at blacklisting TWO will only lead to us redoubling our efforts against these thieves who rip off innocent people and take their hard-earned money to offer “change” that will never come. Our mission has been to counter these fakes. Due to these audacious efforts at undermining our work we have recommitted ourselves to explicitly putting these cowardly SOB’s out of business as quickly as possible.
Mr. Chambers — I promise you that your sleazy, immoral, and underhanded efforts will severely backfire.
While many evangelicals once viewed conversion therapy as key way to deal with homosexuality, many of the religious movement’s leaders and organizations have cooled to the practice in recent years, as more science suggests that homosexuality may be innate and as new therapeutic approaches have emerged. “Evangelicals, in quiet ways, are shifting to this position to where there is just not a lot of support for the change paradigm,” said Warren Throckmorton, an influential voice in the world of Christian counseling, referring to so-called change therapy. “In the late 1990s, the debate was clearly, ‘Could gays change from being gay?’ and the focus was on orientation, and it was a big part of politics,” said Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College, an evangelical school in Pennsylvania.
Today, we learned that Willow Creek Community Church’s formal relationship with Exodus International has ended. The information was originally obtained by Ex-Gay Watch and reported by Christianity Today. While the decision to part ways dates back to 2009, news that the South Barrington megachurch had cut ties with Exodus, the world’s largest ministry addressing homosexuality, did not surface until late June. The wise decision and move towards honesty and integrity left Exodus President Alan Chambers a little bitter:
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus, disagrees. “The choice to end our partnership is definitely something that shines a light on a disappointing trend within parts of the Christian community,” he said, “which is that there are Christians who believe like one another who aren’t willing to stand with one another, simply because they’re afraid of the backlash people will direct their way if they are seen with somebody who might not be politically correct.” Chambers said he sympathizes with Christian organizations that deal with social, political, and financial backlash, but added, “Biblical truth is unpopular, and when you’re supporting unpopular truth, you are unpopular too; which means, some days, getting upwards of 10,000 phone calls and emails, and it can be overwhelming.”
Ten thousand phone calls and e-mails in one day? Really, Alan? Apparently he is more popular and in-demand than Barack Obama. Who would have guessed? The fact is, people are beginning to see through the charade — which was always a slick marketing campaign disguised as legitimate science. Time has not been a friend of these fraudulent groups, due to scandals, defections and science. Honest people look at Chambers and can obviously see he is still gay. And then we have degenerates and undesirables like former coke dealers Janet Boynes and Stephen Bennett (see video below) who allegedly find Jesus, but are really just lowlife hustlers exploiting Christians by peddling their tales of change to make a quick buck. As Australia’s “ex-gay” buster Anthony Venn-Brown points out, all the “ex-gay” activists share tired stories of distant parents, sexual abuse and transformation from pathetic loser to star preacher. Where are the normal so-called “ex-gays” that don’t have a job with Exodus or lived a normal life prior to their “conversion?” Why are these creepy groups only able to dredge up freaks from the bottom of life’s barrel?
Given the situation, it was only a matter of time before the Christian intelligentsia rebelled and stopped humoring clowns like Alan Chambers, Stephen Bennett, and Janet Boynes. Chambers and others of his ilk should strongly consider to tidying up their resumes so they will be prepared to look for real jobs. Recent trends show that “ex-gay” gig is coming to an end sooner than later. ….Of course, none of these con artists succeeded in the real world, so they will likely take their ridiculous roadshow to places like Uganda where these cowards can terrorize local populations with no one to stop them. Some people will do anything for some coin.
Opening Night: Overview of ‘Ex-Gay’ Ministries with Wayne Besen
Film Screening: This is What Love in Action Looks Like
One Man Show: Peterson Toscano
Protest of Exodus International’s Love Won Out
Founded in 1972, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church serves more than 850 members and friends and is one of the largest congregations within Metropolitan Community Churches, a Christian denomination with churches in more than 35 countries. The church is widely known for its positive, affirming ministry to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, along with their friends, families and allies, and for its strong commitment to social justice as an expression of the congregation’s Christian faith. For additional information on the ministry, services, and programs of Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church, visit 
he Religious Right’s “ex-gay” flavor of the moment (many others have either come out or been scandalized) is also the founder of 
