In August, two key members of the “ex-gay” organization PFOX spoke at the “Truth Academy”. The conference was hosted by the paradoxically named Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, whose founder Peter LaBarbera’s website is listed as an official “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
At the Truth Academy, PFOX Board President Greg Quinlan raised eyebrows with an offensive speech explaining how he allegedly went from gay-to-straight, and found support from an Assemblies of God Church that accepted him because he supposedly was not effeminate.
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
At the same conference, Arthur Abba Goldberg, the convicted Wall Street thief who runs PFOX’s speaker’s bureau, demonstrated PFOX’s unscientific use of stereotypes.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Abba Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
Clearly, Virginia-based PFOX is a dangerous organization that traffics in ugly slurs and crass stereotypes. The group has not one iota of science to back up its anti-gay rhetoric, so it turns to quacks for guidance, such as its former board President Richard Cohen.
Cohen runs the sham group, the International Healing Foundation which specializes in bizarre “ex-gay” therapies, such as a banging a pillow with a tennis racket, while yelling a parent’s name. In 2009, Cohen sent his protégé, Caleb Lee Brundidge (who claims to raise the dead), to Uganda. The result of his visit was the introduction of the deadly and draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Incidentally, Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association on March 23, 2002 for multiple ethics violations.
With no credibility, PFOX tries to legitimize its homophobia by slyly gaining endorsements from mainstream institutions – usually through chicanery, such as disguising what the organization truly stands for.
For example, earlier this year, PFOX pretended the District of Columbia government endorsed it, after its Executive Director Regina Griggs received a Certificate of Appreciation. Upon learning that PFOX had received the perfunctory piece of paper and plastered its website with it, the mayor’s office took back the “honor”.
“A staff level error was made when the request for the certificate in question was fulfilled. We apologize for the error as it runs contrary to the Mayor’s vision of a more open and inclusive city,” the mayor’s office wrote to PFOX.
The latest victim of PFOX’s hapless and pathetic quest for legitimacy is the World Bank, which foolishly approved this organization of reprobates as an official charity. They got the illustrious listing after a small number of anti-gay staff-members at the World Bank had recommended PFOX for this year’s Community Connections Campaign. World Bank matching funds were to be given to the chosen charities. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.
My organization Truth Wins Out and Change.org launched an online petition to drop PFOX from the list of charities. Members of the World Bank staff also made a persuasive case against using taxpayer funds to assist PFOX. Funding this organization would make a mockery of the group’s commitment to diversity and undermine its efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.
Armed with new information, The World Bank decided to take another look at PFOX and elected to change their guidelines. According to the new rules:
Bank-matching funds will be provided to those organizations that have, through prior participation, established a track record of support with staff. Organizations that have come on the list this year will not be offered matching funds in this year’s campaign, though the Bank will match any contribution that has been made to this latter group prior to today, November 15, 2010. We will review the new organizations after one year, to see if they have the staff and community support to warrant a match in the FY12 campaign.
The World Bank should have simply dumped PFOX from the campaign. Unfortunately, PFOX’s self-serving and underhanded quest to grandstand cost twenty-five respected organizations the opportunity to receive matching funds. But at least this interim measure keeps this hate group away from taxpayer funds.
PFOX can bank on the fact that the more people know about the bizarre therapy it endorses, the unprofessional counselors in which it associates, and the slimy way it distorts science and sniffs out publicity – the less support it will receive.
TWO Pledges To Help Educate The World Bank About PFOX’s Record of Hate and Harm
NEW YORK – Truth Wins Out today praised the World Bank’s plan to eliminate matching funds for the “ex-gay” hate group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), and called it a “positive step in the right direction.” The bank took this extraordinary step after learning more about PFOX’s reprehensible record and strong objections from staff who were upset PFOX had been included on the World Bank’s list of approved charities.
“We are grateful that the World Bank ensured that taxpayers will not be subsidizing PFOX’s anti-gay campaign,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “We pledge to continue educating the World Bank on this vital issue. The more they learn about PFOX’s history of hate and harm, the less likely they will consider PFOX a legitimate charity.”
Last week, Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner discovered that a small number of anti-gay staff-members at the World Bank had recommended PFOX as a charity for this year’s Community Connections Campaign. World Bank matching funds were to be given to the chosen charities. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.
Truth Wins Out and Change.org launched an online petition to drop PFOX from the list of charities. World Bank staff also made a persuasive case against using taxpayer funds to assist PFOX. The World Bank decided to take another look at PFOX and elected to change their guidelines. According to the new rules:
Bank-matching funds will be provided to those organizations that have, through prior participation, established a track record of support with staff. Organizations that have come on the list this year will not be offered matching funds in this year’s campaign, though the Bank will match any contribution that has been made to this latter group prior to today, November 15, 2010. We will review the new organizations after one year, to see if they have the staff and community support to warrant a match in the FY12 campaign.
Truth Wins Out preferred that PFOX be completely dropped from the list this year, but is satisfied with this interim measure that starves the hate group of taxpayer funds. In 2011, TWO will disseminate key information to World Bank staff and management to ensure they are aware of PFOX’s dubious record.
“It is a shame that other first time charitable organizations will have to suffer because of PFOX’s unseemly presence,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Sadly, the PFOX baby is so toxic that the bathwater had to be flushed to avoid contaminating the entire program’s reputation.”
In August, two key members of PFOX spoke at the “Truth Academy”. The conference was hosted by Americans For Truth About Homosexuality’s founder Peter LaBarbera, whose website was listed as an official “hate site” by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
At the Truth Academy, PFOX Board President Greg Quinlan raised eyebrows with an offensive speech. Quinlan explained how he allegedly went from gay-to-straight, and found support from an Assemblies of God Church that accepted him because he allegedly was not effeminate.
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know,” Quinlan told the chuckling crowd. “I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them.”
At the same conference, Arthur Abba Goldberg, the convicted Wall Street thief who runs PFOX’s speakers bureau, demonstrated PFOX’s unscientific use of stereotypes.
“By the way, did you notice that a lot of gays who remain in the gay lifestyle also do a lot of body building,” said Abba Goldberg. “They will be in the gym a lot trying to build up their pecs…Because they have these body image issues and don’t feel they are masculine enough.”
“PFOX is a dangerous organization that traffics in ugly slurs and crass stereotypes,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “Given PFOX’s level of vitriol, it would seem reckless and irresponsible to give this group charitable status in the future.”
PFOX’s former board President is Richard Cohen, who still serves as the “therapy” guru of the organization. Cohen runs the International Healing Foundation and sent his protégé, Caleb Lee Brundidge, to Uganda. The result of his visit was the introduction of the deadly and draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Cohen was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association on March 23, 2002 for multiple ethics violations.
PFOX is an anti-gay political organization founded in 1998 by Anthony Falzarano with the help of an $80,000 Family Research Council grant. Falzarano once called University of Wyoming hate crime victim Matthew Shepard a “predator to heterosexual men.” He also said on CBS News that, “AIDS comes directly from Satan. He uses homosexuals as pawns and then he kills them.”
“PFOX likes to claim that they ‘love’ LGBT people,” said TWO’s Wayne Besen. “But their syrupy rhetoric does not match their record, nor reality. From the moment this organization was founded, it showed open hostility and extreme animus towards LGBT people.”
There are also lingering questions as to whether PFOX should have been listed as a charity, given that to be included in the World Bank’s Community Outreach Program, an organization is required to have, “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.”
PFOX fails to fulfill the criteria. The organization is based in Reedville, VA — placing PFOX 127 miles — and a two hour and forty minute drive — southeast of the nation’s capitol. PFOX also does not list any legitimate chapters in DC or Virginia. The only “contact” e-mail listed in DC or VA is that of the national organization based in Reedville.
Truth Wins Out is a non-profit organization that defends the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community against anti-gay misinformation, counters the so-called “ex-gay” industry and educates America about the lives of LGBT people. Our goal is to fight for a world where LGBT individuals can live openly, honestly, free of discrimination and be true to themselves.
Does the World Bank think that your sexual orientation can be cured? Well, maybe not officially, but that’s not stopping the World Bank from funneling money to an organization that not only tries to convert people from homosexuality to heterosexuality, but also has ties to Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill. Perhaps the World Bank is adjusting their mission statement: “Working for a World Free of Poverty … and Free of Gay People.”
As Metro Weekly’s Chris Geidner writes, the World Bank has allowed a controversial ex-gay group — Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) — to join the ranks of its Community Outreach Program, a workplace-giving campaign that allows employees of the World Bank to give money to an organization, and have that money matched by a contribution from the World Bank. Depending on how many employees decide to give money to PFOX, the World Bank will give anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent in a matching donation.
Which means that in the months ahead, the World Bank will be giving money directly to an organization that believes homosexuality can be cured. On top of that, as Truth Wins Out notes, a former PFOX board member, Richard Cohen (who still serves as a therapy guru to the organization), was intimately involved in efforts to create legislation in Uganda that would punish homosexuality with the death penalty or life imprisonment.
And it gets even shadier. The director of PFOX’s Speakers Bureau, Abba Goldberg, is a convicted felon who was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for bilking poor communities with bond schemes. And PFOX has also had its tactics condemned by the worldwide psychological and medical profession, with leaders from the organization being thrown out of professional groups like the American Counseling Association for violating ethical protocols.
Wow, if the World Bank is willing to lend credence to an organization like PFOX, what does it say about their overall credibility? For the World Bank, it looks like corporate social responsibility equals corporate endorsement of curing gay people.
What’s also particularly troubling about the World Bank’s endorsement of PFOX is that it looks like the Bank made an exception in order to squeeze PFOX under its Community Outreach Program guidelines. Under those guidelines, a qualifying organization is supposed to have “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.” But a 2009 report by the Washington City Paper revealed that PFOX has no presence in D.C.; moreover, the organization’s headquarters are in Reedville, Virginia — a whopping 127 miles from Washington, D.C.
“It is factually incorrect to say that PFOX has a ‘substantial local presence in DC’”, said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Either PFOX is committing fraud against the World Bank, or they are receiving special rights from the organization and inexplicably allowed to pass as a local organization.”
The World Bank has some serious explaining to do, Lucy. Of course, if you listen to World Bank spokespeople, they say that their support of PFOX shouldn’t be considered an endorsement of PFOX’s work. And if you believe that, I think there’s a bridge in Alaska that’s for sale, too.
“‘Because Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) met the minimum criteria for inclusion on the Community Connections campaign, they were included this year,” said a spokesperson for the World Bank, according to Metro Weekly. Ah, such bureaucratic speak for such a serious issue.
Send the World Bank a message that their decision to include PFOX in the Community Outreach Program is as offensive as it is tactless. This is an organization that uses manipulation and discredited psychological tactics to “cure” people of their sexual orientation, has ties to an anti-gay bill in Uganda that could wipe out an entire population of gay people, and who has a leadership that includes people with shady criminal ties. Is that really the type of “charity” the World Bank wants to lend credence to?
Metro Weekly reporter Chris Geidner unearthed the disturbing story that Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) will soon be able to say that its programming is supported by funding provided to it by the World Bank.
Requirements include that the organization have “a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.”
However, PFOX fails to fulfill this criteria and may be guilty of attempting to defraud the World Bank. The organization is based in Reedville, VA — placing the town 127 miles — and a two hour and forty minute drive — southeast of the nation’s capitol. Indeed, Richmond is significantly closer to Reedville and is a mere 85 miles away from PFOX’s headquarters.
“It is factually incorrect to say that PFOX has a ‘substantial local presence in DC’,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “Either PFOX is committing fraud against the World Bank, or they are receiving special rights from the organization and inexplicably allowed to pass as a local organization.”
The truth is, PFOX does not meet in the area and has almost no local footprint, other than an occasional lobbying foray or an advertising buy. The Washington City Paper confirmed that PFOX has no local DC presence in a 2009 report, “The Ex-Gay Movement That Wasn’t”. According to the news report:
Unfortunately for PFOX and reporters on the sexual-orientation beat, ex-gay Washingtonians are hard to come by. Since each of my dozen or so calls to PFOX headquarters went unanswered, I am unable to confirm any of the group’s purported ex-gay offspring or friends. J. Matt Barber, a member of the PFOX board of directors, tells me that he has “a number of very close friends who are former homosexuals”—none of whom live in D.C.
“The World Bank needs to answer why it is bending the rules to accommodate an ideological organization that, under any objective measure, does not meet the criteria of working in the DC metro area,” says TWO’s Besen. “It is outrageous that PFOX tried to pull a fast one and they should immediately pull the plug on this scheme. We call on The World Bank to launch a thorough investigation to see if PFOX and some World Bank employees conspired to misrepresent PFOX’s location in an effort to defraud the bank.”
PFOX also does not list any legitimate chapters in DC or Virginia. The only “contact” e-mail listed in DC or VA is that of the national organization.
Metro Weekly reporter Chris Geidner has discovered that Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays – PFOX – will soon be able to say that its programming is supported by funding provided to it by the World Bank.
As part of the World Bank’s efforts to ”strengthen communities,” the Community Outreach Program coordinates an annual workplace-giving campaign that includes World Bank matching funds given to various community groups and international nonprofits. Depending on the level of employee participation, the bank’s matching funds are either 50 percent or 100 percent of the employee donations.
Requirements include that the organization be incorporated as a ”not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization,” have ”a substantial local presence in the Greater Washington metropolitan area,” prepare ”an annual IRS Form 990” and adhere to a few other general provisions. The materials also note that the organization must ”[o]bserve and practice a policy of inclusivity and equal opportunity.”
PFOX supports so-called ”conversion” therapy – by which people who identify as gay attempt to become ex-gay – and the National Association for Reparative Therapy (NARTH), specifically.
One of the few videos on the PFOX YouTube channel is a video of an interview with former NARTH president Dr. Joseph Nicolosi. Another shows a televised debate between PFOX’s Peter Sprigg and Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen, who has been writing about the ex-gay organizations for more than a decade.
Besen told Metro Weekly on Wednesday afternoon, ”It’s as sickening as it is scandalous.”
Besen said that the former president of PFOX, Richard Cohen – who Besen described as ”the guru of the organization to this day” – runs the International Healing Foundation and ”sent his protégé to Uganda – and what came from that was the Anti-Homosexuality Bill” that has been the subject of intense worldwide scrutiny and criticism.
”Here’s this group that is tied to what can only be described as an eliminationist campaign, worldwide, against gay people,” Besen said, ”and they’re receiving money from the World Bank?”
The American Psychological Association has studied efforts to help people change their sexual orientation, resulting in a 2009 resolution concluding that ”there is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation.”
The resolution went on to ”encourage mental health professionals to avoid misrepresenting the efficacy of sexual orientation change efforts by promoting or promising change in sexual orientation when providing assistance to individuals distressed by their own or others’ sexual orientation.”
PFOX, however, describes its mission on its website by stating that, ”Each year thousands of men, women and teens with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave homosexuality.
”However, there are those who refuse to respect that decision,” the site tells visitors. ”Consequently, formerly gay persons are reviled simply because they dare to exist! Without PFOX, ex-gays would have no voice in a hostile environment.”
Besen, though, said of the World Bank’s inclusion of PFOX in its campaign, ”It’s unbelievable that they’re putting forth a group that is rejected by every mental health organization out there. This is not a charity – or, is only in the most technical terms – this is a group that’s not designed to help people, but to hurt them.”
Besen said that PFOX’s inclusion in the campaign could raise questions about the World Bank’s commitment to diversity – both in its workforce and in its programs.
”I think it undermines the World Bank’s claim to be a group that cares about diversity, and it really makes all of their programs suspect,” he said.
The World Bank spokesperson disagreed, writing, ”The World Bank Group is committed to a diverse staff, offering Domestic Partner benefits to same sex couples, including for health coverage, for over 10 years.”
He added that the World Bank ”was the first international financial institution to offer health care insurance coverage for same sex couples.
Besen noted that the move has implications for PFOX as well. ”I think what it also does with PFOX – they’re actually using the World Bank and exploiting them and their reputation to promote their agenda. And the World Bank shouldn’t fall for it.”
As for the next steps, Besen said that the World Bank ”shouldn’t endorse this whatsoever. They shouldn’t hide behind technicalities. Hatred is hatred.
”They should make an example of it. Say, this is not – PFOX does not represent our values.”
The World Bank spokesperson, however, told Metro Weekly only that ”Community Connections has made clear that they will take the views of staff, including GLOBE, in their consideration of what charities will be included next year.”
In an off-the-wall presentation at Peter LaBarbera’s (aka Porno Pete) “Truth Academy” in suburban Illinois on Thursday, so-called former homosexual Greg Quinlan discussed how he allegedly left homosexuality. Quinlan is the current President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) and the founder of the Pro-Family Network.
The presentation was packed with misinformation, crude stereotypes and a healthy dose of gay bashing. Quinlan punctuated his sermon by claiming he wasn’t a limp wristed, flaming faggot, even while shining oh-so brightly onstage.
“I wasn’t your flaming faggot, you know. I can say that because I’ve been there and done that. You know, the one’s whose wrists are so limp that when the wind blows they slap themselves in the face. I wasn’t one of them,” Quinlan said, as the small audience chuckled. (8:00—8:13)
This was an interesting observation by Quinlan, given that he describes during his talk how he walked into an Assemblies of God church with bleach blond hair and a mullet. Yes, he sounds like a paragon of masculinity.
I’m not sure whether to be offended by his comments or feel sorry for a man who is clearly in denial and deeply ashamed about his gender expression. It is sad that Quinlan can’t accept himself and instead has to resort to bashing people who look and sound exactly like he does.
Quinlan’s tale of transformation begins at age 9 when he “received Jesus Christ”. When he was ten years old, a thirteen-year old friend who lived across the street showed him a Playboy and “introduced” him to homosexuality. I can only imagine how this scene played out:
“Homosexuality, meet Greg.”
“Greg, meet homosexuality.”
“Um, Greg, you can stop shaking his hand now.”
As a young man who had just become a nurse, Quinlan claims he was on the verge of suicide, so he decided to “come out.” He dove into the so-called “lifestyle” with gusto and claims to have become an Ohio lobbyist for the Human Rights Campaign Fund (now the Human Rights Campaign).
“They taught me how to do grassroots activism, how to read legislation, how to lobby my elected official…so that’s how I lobbied.”
The only problem with this fantastical story is that no one working for HRC or affiliated with this organization remembers Quinlan’s contributions. When I worked at this organization I checked with our members in Ohio to see if they had lobbied with Quinlan.
Not a single person had any recollection of working with him. So, while it is possible he licked stamps on volunteer night or attended an HRC dinner, he certainly played no major or memorable role in this organization. In effect, Quinlan is pathetically padding his resume to make his tale more attractive to fundamentalist audiences.
Moving along, after allegedly watching more that 100 friends die of AIDS, Quinlan begins to question the “homosexual lifestyle.”
“I was questioning the homosexual lifestyle. It looked like a dead end to me. It looked like something that was so ugly. Here we are, you go to the bar, you hook up, this back and forth stuff, it just seems so shallow. So lust filled, so immature. But I was there and too prideful to do anything about it. So I stayed there for a little while.”
This catapults him on a journey to rediscover his religious roots. Quinlan starts watching Pat Robertson’s 700 Club and The Praise the Lord Network (PTL). One winter evening, a desperate Quinlan calls into one of the televangelist’s shows and becomes closer to God. Soon, he finds an Assemblies of God with a lovely pastor who loudly condemns the “sodomites.”
We will post more on Quinlan’s bizarre speech, but his trite story is Exhibit A of the self-loathing and shame that happens to young gay people when they are “introduced” to harmful religious indoctrination. If Quinlan had not been subjected to such biblical brow beating in his youth, he might have been an entirely different person. Indeed, he might have had dignity and self-respect, while actually being a real lobbyist for the Human Rights Campaign, rather than an imaginary one.
Parents & Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) is a despicable group of sick individuals who pretend to be loving parents – but the organization really exists to give family members and friends the tools they need to reject their LGBT “loved” ones. Wow, how nice and Christian.
PFOX is best known for threatening frivolous lawsuits against schools that reject its junk science, staging hate crimes so alleged “ex-gays” can claim to be victims, and grandstanding to gain free publicity for their silly, lost “cause”.
The latest Springer-esque circus act from this sorry group came when an alleged supporter requested from the District of Columbia a “Certificate of Appreciation” for PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs.
Clearly, these are perfunctory pieces of paper signed by the mayor. Yet, when Griggs got her “award”, she plastered it on PFOX’s website and made it look like she was actually endorsed and applauded by Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Yep, it really is that sad.
To be clear, Grigg’s behavior is no different than a kid who is the worst athlete on the block buying himself an MVP trophy and then boasting about his “award” to the kids in the neighborhood. It truly takes a pathetic, morally bereft organization to pull such a disheartening, churlish publicity stunt.
Apparently, Mayor Fenty agrees (if not so explicitly). He had Stephanie D. Scott, Secretary of the District of Columbia, write a letter to PFOX telling Griggs to take down the mayor’s “Certificate of Appreciation” from the group’s website. The June 24th letter reads:
Ms. Griggs:
I am writing to request that you remove Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s Certificate of Appreciation from your website. The document was issued in error, as our office failed to adequately review your request.
I thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
Stephanie D. Scott, Ph.D.
That is a very kind way of saying, “we had no idea that a manipulative hate group would exploit the system and grandstand in such a shameless way.”
As of today, PFOX is still displaying the award, as if the discredited group had actually been honored and not, instead, been upbraided by the mayor.
L-O-S-E-R-S
Finally, I am going to say something politically incorrect. If you are Grigg’s gay son, (is it Jason Griggs?) it is time to crawl out of the closet. You mother is not the head of a run-of-the-mill anti-gay group. She is the bigot who is posing as the alternative to PFLAG, the pro-gay group that helps parents.
In other words, parents who are desperately seeking help and guidance from legitimate sources are finding your mother instead, who is selling them lies about LGBT people. It is time that you stepped up and stopped her dangerous charade. How many parents have rejected their gay children because they found Regina, instead of genuine support?
Mr. Griggs, you’ve been silent long enough. You are no longer a kid (unlike those harmed by your mom). It is time to grow up and speak out.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) are up to their tired tricks once again. A bunch of seemingly unstable oddballs (Regina Griggs, Richard Cohen, Greg Quinlan, con artist Arthur Abba Goldberg) strategize on ways they can be rejected from sundry venues based on their spectacular idiocy and remarkable irrelevance. Then, they make a big fuss and whine to the media that “ex-gays” are victims, hoping they will get their names in the newspaper and feel important.
Their other tactic is to host disinformation booths at state and county fairs and fake hate crimes by provoking innocent gay bystanders, so they can claim that “ex-gays” are a persecuted minority.
PFOX is far and away the sickest and most profoundly disturbed group of people I have dealt with in more than twenty years of activism. They are the lowest of the low — grotesque bottom feeders of the anti-gay industry. There is not a sane, rational voice within this entire organization and hasn’t been since the group’s founding by the Family Research Council in 1998.
This buffoonish organization has virtually no accomplishments or even a discernible mission. Unlike Exodus, which tries to help people unsuccessfully “pray away the gay” (“Freedom from Homosexuality Through Jesus Christ”, for those historical revisionists who deny they pray away the gay), PFOX does….absolutely nothing.
The organization exists as a platform for a couple of showboats who are fighting for the right to show off. It’s one big ego trip to elevate otherwise unimportant people. After all, if Cohen and Quinlan were not “ex-gays” they would be nobodies.
Indeed, they have had no bearing on the debate over the efficacy of “ex-gay” therapy. And, Grigg’s son is still a practicing ho-mo-SEX-ual. After a decade of futile “activism” have you changed him Regina? Does he have a special gal pal yet? If not, why do you continue to run PFOX, given your own personal failure to convert your own son?
Griggs will never answer these questions, and prefers to continue warring with her own family. I just thank God for the parents I have and that I was not born into such a dysfunctional dystopia that clearly exists in the Grigg’s household.
PFOX’s latest tantrum is against the Parents Teachers Association (PTA). Griggs and company are in a predictable swivet because the PTA has wisely rejected the hate group’s demand to host an exhibit peddling anti-gay lies and junk science at their national convention. PFOX knew this would happen, but they are making a stink because they are stage horses who crave ink.
PFOX wrongly says there is a double standard because the PTA allows gay exhibits. Perhaps, this is because the LGBT groups are FOR something — which is equality. If they had positioned themselves as “ex-heterosexuals” with dishonest and mean-spirited pamphlets denouncing the “dangerous” heterosexual lifestyle, the LGBT groups would have been rejected too.
PFOX is not for “ex-gays” (which PFOX has not proven actually exist outside politics), but they are simply anti-gay and anyone with common sense knows this, including the PTA.
PFOX also has the distinction of promoting fake science that is not peer reviewed. They rely on charlatans such as the disgraced George “rent boy” Rekers. Convicted con artist Arthur Abba Goldberg is in charge of its speakers bureau. Their former president, Richard Cohen, was expelled for life from the American Counseling Association for malpractice. Why would the PTA elect to put vulnerable children in the hands of these potentially dangerous and discredited figures?
Furthermore, if so-called “ex-gays” are now heterosexual, they are welcome at the PTA in any capacity. What PFOX is essentially saying is that “ex-gays” are not heterosexuals, but some new sexual orientation.
PFOX has never articulated what an “ex-gay” actually is, since by their own definition they are separate from straight people. What this group offers is a nebulous and convoluted mission and description of who they are and what they stand for. This is why they are rightfully bounced from credible organizations.
Still, in the name of vanity and the rush of the great media spotlight, PFOX persists in its insanity:
“PFOX emailed the PTA for eight months while seeking a response to our request for an exhibit booth at the annual PTA convention,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX. “We also left voice mail messages for Saylors.”
“But Saylors chose not to speak with PFOX. Instead, he sent an email accusing us of not meeting the PTA’ “Diversity and Inclusion Policy.’” (See Saylor’ email at http://pfox.org/NPTA_Diversity_Inclusion_Policy.pdf)
“Why is it gay groups meet the PTA Diversity and Inclusion Policy but our families do not? “Diversity’ and “inclusion’ should mean exactly that ‚Äî diversity and inclusion of everyone,” said Griggs. (See PFOX email to PTA at http://pfox.org/pta-diversity.html)
“Instead, gay groups like PFLAG that deny public access to ex-gays and disrupt church events welcoming former homosexuals are approved by the PTA while ex-gay groups are not,” said Griggs.
“Now the PTA is pressuring its state PTA chapters nationwide to adopt its biased national diversity policy, which includes ‘exual orientation,’ even though that term is selectively used to discriminate against people of faith and ex-gay families.”
“The PTA has become a left-wing advocacy group instead of serving the needs of all children,” said Griggs.
Where to begin?
LGBT groups are inclusive of gay people, heterosexuals, asexuals, bisexuals and transgender people. That about covers the spectrum. PFOX, rejects virtually all these categories. So, one group is diverse and accepting, while the other is defined by who it rejects and what they once claim to have been.
The notion that PFLAG is storming churches and disrupting services is just absurd and comes from PFOX’s legendary paranoia. It certainly is not rooted in reality and is an example of demagoguery of the most obscene kind. Such blatant lies are why the PTA and other groups should continue rejecting PFOX.
Folks, please take a moment and contact Chuck Saylors at csaylors@pta.org or csaylors@mbkahn.com and thank him for rejecting PFOX. This despicable hate group has no place at the June 10 PTA conference in Memphis.
Regina Griggs of PFOX was, completely by mistake, given a certificate of appreciation by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty. You could tell it was a mistake by looking at the certificate, as it mentioned “outstanding contributions” to the community. Now, having been embarrassed in public (again), she’s asking stupid, loaded questions (again) about the matter:
“Is the mayor saying that ex-gays who apply for ceremonial certificates or D.C. government jobs will be refused because of their sexual orientation?”
Uh, no.
If “ex-gays” are real (they’re not), then they’re “straight” and as such are protected under nondiscrimination ordinances. Also, this was rescinded from Regina Griggs, who, to my knowledge, does not claim to be “ex-gay” herself, but rather has chosen to parlay her emotional problems stemming from her own gay son into trying to kill off in everyone that which she thinks she caused in her child.
So.
Simple answers to simple questions, this has been.
Adrian Fenty, the mayor of Washington, D.C., was a strong ally in the successful fight for marriage equality in DC. However, there is word that the mayor signed a certificate of appreciation for PFOX leader Regina Griggs. According to a gushing PFOX press release:
The government of the District of Columbia has awarded a certificate of appreciation to Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). The certificate, signed by D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, recognizes Griggs for her “dedication, commitment, and outstanding contributions as Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.”
“Regina’ award is well-deserved,” said Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays. PFOX presented the award to Griggs last week in honor of her ten years of volunteer service to parents and the ex-gay community.
“Regina has served as executive director without pay. Instead, she prefers that donations be used to develop resources for families and teens, to promote unconditional love for all regardless of sexual orientation, and to seek equal access and protection for the ex-gay community,” said Quinlan. “Her dedication is unparalleled.”
GLAA’s Richard Rosendall is looking into this astounding story. More at The Edge. Let us hope that this all turns out to be nothing. It would be remarkably offensive and surreal for DC to celebrate a purveyor of hate and misinformation.
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