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.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays sent out, yet another, expensive media release across the wire service today. It was its latest attack on the Walt Disney Company for rejecting a nutty shareholders resolution to include so-called ex-gays in its non-discrimination policy.
1) A publicity stunt to make the organization look like it is actually doing something
2) A slippery attempt to water-down non-discrimination laws and policies.
Here is a quick guide to the nonsense spewed by PFOX on its weird media release and then a glimpse of reality:
PFOX Claim: Greg Quinlan, a PFOX spokesperson said, “Ex-gays remain closeted because they are not protected by diversity policies. Employees who support the ex-gay community are also not welcome to express their views.”
Reality: Ex-Gays are not closeted. They simply do not exist. Washington’s City Paper asked PFOX to identify real, live ex-gays in DC – one of this nation’s largest metro areas, and they were unable to do so. It is extremely difficult to find people to come forward who are not “ex-gay” for pay. That is why we keep hearing Quinlan’s name. He is one of the few examples they have and he has made a living off this gig. PFOX is so desperate for examples that they use Quinlan despite the fact he is an unrepentant sinner, due to his recent divorce. While the Bible is not very clear on homosexuality, it is very clear on divorce.
PFOX Claim: “How can HRC demand gay equality when it refuses to extend equality to others?” asked Quinlan.
Reality: PFOX has opposed every single law or policy that offers equality to LGBT people. So, to paraphrase Quinlan, how can PFOX ask for equality? (Although they already have legal protection since ex-gays are presumably heterosexual)
PFOX’s Claim: “Disney’s equality index score is -0- for ex-gays and their supporters.”
Reality: PFOX and other ex-gay groups do not have an equality score index.
PFOX’s Claim: Disney should treat former homosexuals with the same respect and benefits its gives to homosexuals.”
Reality: If PFOX can’t find “former homosexuals” who are not paid, political operatives, how do they expect Disney to do so? And, once again, if so-called ex-gays exist they are now heterosexual, thus protected by non-discrimination laws and policies. What PFOX is essentially saying is that ex-gays do not really exist and are not heterosexual. It is a very incongruous, convoluted message that makes no sense. PFOX has been pushing this insane strategy for several years and it has gone nowhere. Are these people insane?
PFOX Claim: “Last week HRC celebrated the first gay marriages in Washington DC, our nation’s capital. But there is one victory HRC did not celebrate. And that’s the DC Superior Court’s ruling that ex-gays are a legally protected class under the D.C. Human Rights Act.”
Reality: The court did not say that ex-gays constitute an explicitly protected class. The court reversed an earlier ruling that ex-gays are *not* a protected class, but it did not state that they *are* a protected class in D.C.
The court rationalized that, on the basis of the city’ unusually expansive Human Rights Act which defines sexual orientation by “preference or practice,” an ex-gay might hypothetically seek protection on the basis of a mutable decision not to “practice” homosexuality anymore. However, the court found that no such discrimination had occurred in the case of the National Education Association.
Has PFOX failed to notice it is spinning its wheels and not accomplishing anything? They can lie and spin the facts – but they will never get anywhere. Of course, what else can one expect from Greg Quinlan. He began his “ex-gay” career by claiming he had once been a part of the Human Rights Campaign.
When I worked at HRC, not one person had ever heard of Quinlan. So, much for honesty and integrity. I also wonder why PFOX’s Executive Director Regina Griggs has no pictures. Is she ashamed of her work?
The good folks over at Queerty are mad at the Human Rights Campaign for opposing the inclusion of “ex-gays” as a distinct sexual orientation subject to protection under Disney’s non-discrimination policies.
Um. Okay. First let’s read what they had to say on the subject. They start off so good:
In October we learned about the effort from Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, the organization for those cured of The Gay, to get Disney to ban discrimination against ex-gays, the semi-legally protected sexual orientation class. It didn’t go so well.
A shareholder meeting this week saw the proposal get shot down, which Disney’s board recommended, and because there weren’t enough votes to reach a 3 percent threshold the matter cannot be brought up again for another four years.
Good work, shareholders!
The idea of “ex-gays” as a sexual orientation is a little bit silly for a few reasons. First, it suggests that sexual orientation can be changed, which is a farce. Second, if somebody was gay, but is now straight, that person is in theory a heterosexual, and would fall under any existing sexual orientation protections, because one’s sexuality cannot be a reason for termination.
Correct! If ex-gays exist, they’re now heterosexuals, and thus already protected under sexual orientation protections! I can only guess that the original writer of the piece was at this point incapacitated in some way (get well soon?), because the person who completed the piece went completely off the rails:
In a blog post, the Human Rights Campaign calls the shareholder vote a “victory.” Which is a little funny, because isn’t the Human Rights Campaign in favor of prohibiting all types of discrimination?
Us? We support banning workplace discrimination based on any sexuality. And that includes someone who believes he is ex-gay. We don’t want anyone forcing us to fit into the boxes they created, and we refuse to do the same to anyone else. If ex-gays want to be protected, great! We’ll support it! We don’t really believe anyone can ditch homosexuality, but if deep down you think you did, you shouldn’t be targeted in the workplace for identifying as a former ‘mo. Even if PFOX is a laughable institution, there are people out there who believe they are ex-gay, and they should not suffer the torment of workplace harassment for the same reasons gays, bisexuals, and transgender employees should not: because it isn’t right.
GUYS. You won the argument against yourselves in the first paragraphs of your piece. The Human Rights Campaign is indeed against all kinds of discrimination based on sexual orientation, but you just conceded that “ex-gays,” if they exist (!), are heterosexuals! There is no room in the current policies for discrimination against people who say they’re not gay anymore! They’re already covered! To give an inch on this merely (and quite na?Øvely) plays into Regina Griggs’ and PFOX’s inane strategy to create some phantasmagorical parallel reality where people who identify as HETEROSEXUALS are the real victims of discrimination.
Think this through, because the argument you’ve put forth is just as inane as when Tony Perkins flagellates around the television screen complaining about hate crimes laws being used to punish Christians, since religion is protected under hate crimes laws as well.
The Human Rights Campaign (and we at Truth Wins Out) are solidly against discrimination of any sort based on sexual orientation. “Ex-gay” is not a sexual orientation. Even if we were to pretend for a second that “ex-gays” were a real and lasting phenomenon, and even if we were to pretend for a second that there was a shred of truth to anything that comes out of the maws of Regina Griggs and PFOX, then “ex-gays” would be, by definition, HETEROSEXUAL, and again, protected.
Put another way: What the hell kind of discrimination would Richard Cohen and his wife be subjected to if he decided to somehow parlay his pillow tennis racket beat-off extravaganza into a career dressing up as Cinderella during the nightly parade/fireworks show? The wife would get benefits under their family plan, he couldn’t be fired for being married to a woman, etc.
Queerty people: this entire thing from PFOX is a publicity stunt, and you fell for it. I don’t know if this is what you all think of as “encouraging conversation” or being a “dissenting voice,” but there are ways to do that without embarrassing yourselves.
Truth Wins Out’s research team revealed today that an alleged split in July 2009 between Exodus International and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) may only be cosmetic. While PFOX is no longer listed as an Exodus referral agency on Exodus’ website, the groups appear heavily enmeshed.
Wisconsin’s Reclamation Ministries, South Carolina’s New Song Ministries, Oklahoma’s First Stone Ministries, New Mexico’s LifeMor ministries, Missouri and Illinois’ Pure Heart Ministries, and Florida’s Family Ties Ministries.
“Despite their public divorce, Exodus and PFOX appear to be very much in bed together,” said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out.”These groups should be honest and admit the true extent of their working relationship.”
There is one other possibility. PFOX may be falsely listing Exodus ministries as PFOX chapters in order to mislead the public into thinking the organization is larger than it actually is.
In July 2009, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) broke away from Exodus International – or perhaps it was the other way around. The details remain murky. They were supposedly split over strategy, with PFOX couching its bizarre arguments in civil rights language.
For example, they want “ex-gays” to be included in laws that protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Exodus, simply wants gay people not to be covered by such laws. There was also Exodus’ concern over PFOX’s judgment in placing quack “therapist” Richard Cohen on television.
An article in yesterday’s Washington Post reveals that, due to a ruling which requires schools to distribute materials from any non-profit organization, Regina Griggs has decided to abuse high school kids directly with fliers from PFOX: (Read More)
What sort of silly shenanigans are the PFOX-ers up to now? Well, they are taking one minor procedural determination from The Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and acting as if it has lent some kind of validity to their cause.
Here is the breathless press release from PFOX, replete with exaggerations: (Read More)
In more than twenty years of activism, I can honestly say that the anti-gay organization, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), is by far the most immoral, bizarre and dishonest organization I have come across. It is a cynical, homophobic knock-off of the wonderful group, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). It is run by a mother, Regina Griggs, who has rejected her own gay son’s sexual orientation, and urges other parents to do the same.
So much for family values…
PFOX also has this odd strategy, where it fakes or stages hate crimes to make it appear that so-called “ex-gays” are victims. When GLBT people innocently come up to a PFOX booth at an event, the anti-gay activists provoke confrontations, and then, sneaks that they are, call the police to pretend they were harassed or attacked.
In some cases, this batty organization just makes up tales out of thin air. For example, on the group’s blog, it has a story about me with the misleading headline, “Wayne Besen Attacks a Church. “It goes on to identify my as a member of a group, “Bash Back”. PFOX also shows video footage of me supposedly screaming into megaphone directed at a church. I must respond to these perfidious calumnies:
1) The church in question was not “attacked”. This is an outright fabrication. A couple dozen protesters did, however, protest an “ex-gay” meeting in Boston. The action occurred on public property. The police were on-hand and not a single ticket was given, nor was anyone arrested. So, the alleged attack never actually took place, although it makes for a great story if you are a right wing nut who wants to feign persecution. If PFOX has a problem with protests on public property and the First Amendment, the group’s leaders should leave America. Despite PFOX’s best efforts, we are still a free country.
2) Contrary to the PFOX report, I have never been a member of the organization “Bash Back”. I do have a book that I wrote named, “Bashing Back: Wayne Besen on GLBT People, Politics and Culture.” I can only assume PFOX’s Greg Quinlan, Richard Cohen and Regina Griggs conflated the two in a slimy effort to smear me, or they were too obtuse to know the difference between the book and the group. In any case, PFOX ought to do its homework before it issues false and misleading public statements. To do otherwise is unchristian.
3) PFOX identifies me in a video as “the man in the orange shirt holding the bullhorn up against the church’ window to disrupt the ex-gay meeting.” Newsflash: the person in the video with the bullhorn is NOT ME and I have been intentionally misidentified for the purposes of PFOX’s sleazy propaganda. I am proud to say, however, I did take a turn at the bullhorn and led the chant, “Uganda,” to remind Exodus International of its prominent role in the persecution of GLBT citizens in this African country. I am very proud that I stood up for human rights in Boston. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
PFOX is run by lunatics who should be institutionalized. Don’t take my word for it, just take a peak at the video below featuring PFOX’s former President Richard Cohen. Judge for yourself.
Finally, I find it sad that an organization that claims to be Christian has such an easy time bearing false witness. Shame on PFOX for their outright lies and fanciful fiction. Apparently, the work of Truth Wins Out must be having an impact, or they would not feel the urge to resort to such slime and skulduggery.
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) are up to 
