Evergreen Update Newsletter
April 17, 2006
Homosexual Activists Launch New Attack on Ex-Gay Movement
From CitizenLink (http://www.family.org/cforum/news/a0039736.cfm) a Web
site of Focus on the Family:
by Pete Winn, associate editor
Pro-family groups reaffirm that change, though not easy, is possible for
men and women struggling with same-sex attraction.
Pro-family groups today defended the ex-gay movement and the truth that
homosexuals can change against a broadside assault launched Thursday by
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).
The activist group released a report that claimed reparative therapy is
ineffective charging groups that recommend efforts to prevent
homosexuality among teenagers with causing the youth harm.
Matt Foreman, NGLTF's executive director, specifically singled out Focus
on the Family and Exodus International, claiming the groups "demonize
young people" and "prey on the fears of parents" through conducting
programs like Love Won Out.
"This report exposes the extent to which these zealots will go," he said,
"including reformulating their ex-gay snake oil at the expense of
vulnerable children and young adults."
Foreman even raised the specter of lawsuits against ex-gay ministries to
try to put them out of business.
But Dr. Bill Maier, vice president and psychologist in residence at Focus
on the Family, said trying to help people come out of homosexuality is
neither "dangerous" nor "unethical" -- and gay-activist groups like the
NGLTF have tried for some time to "stifle the truth about change and the
serious risks inherent in the gay life."
"This report is another attempt to silence a message that is not tolerated
by America s gay-activist organizations a message that change is
possible," Maier said.
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International and himself a former
homosexual, said the NGLTF and similar groups have been force-feeding
teens the idea that homosexuals are "born gay." It is a dangerous myth, he
said.
"Our organization hears from thousands of teens and young adults each year
who are desperate for information and resources beyond the one-sided
'born-gay' message that saturates our culture," he explained.
"We are deeply concerned about these young men and women because so many
of us, as former homosexuals, wish we had been aware of the emotional and
physical devastation often found in gay life."
Maier, meanwhile, said the truth is that teens and others who are confused
about their sexual identities need to be told about the reality of
homosexuality something he said the NGLTF is trying to hide.
"According to research conducted at Harvard Medical School and published
in the journal Pediatrics," he said, "teenagers who experiment with
homosexual behavior are much more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol,
engage in sexual activity at an early age and have sex with multiple
partners. They also face an increased risk of being forced to have sex
against their will."
No basis for charges
Dr. Warren Throckmorton, professor of psychology at Grove City College in
Grove City , Pa. , said there is no basis for the wild claim that therapy
for homosexuals causes harm.
"We dont have anything like the kind of research that would be needed to
make those kind of claims," Throckmorton said. "There is only one study to
cite, and that was a qualitative study which means that someone just
went and interviewed a bunch of people who said they had been harmed."
Indeed, the gay-activist group relied upon the solitary study for its
claim. That research, conducted in 2002, involved only about 200 former
reparative-therapy clients. The authors said that 176 participants
"experienced significant harm" from therapy, including depression and
attempted suicide.
"It took them five years to find 176 people that were willing to say that
they had been harmed," Throckmorton noted. "They didn't go about it by
looking at all of the potential clients who had sought change therapy
and then deciding that a certain percentage had been helped and a certain
percentage had been harmed."
In fact, gay-activist groups get it backwards, Maier said. Therapy for
homosexuality doesn't give "false hope" and lead to depression and
suicide, as they claim.
"In reality, just the opposite is true," he said. "Research conducted by
Dr. Robert Spitzer of Columbia University found that while 43 percent of
gay men and 47 percent of lesbians reported being clinically depressed
before reorientation therapy, after therapy, only 1 percent of the men and
4 percent of the women reported being depressed at any time during the
previous year."
Maier also said that although the NGLTF cites the American Psychological
Association in its report, few Americans realize that the policy
statements on homosexuality issued by that organization are crafted by the
APA s own powerful Committee on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns and
are not voted on by its general membership.
The specter of nuisance lawsuits against groups like Exodus or Focus on
the Family is a gay intimidation tactic, according to Nate Kellum of the
Alliance Defense Fund. But it is a troubling tactic.
Kellum is already defending one ex-gay ministry, Memphis-based Love in
Action, from false charges of causing harm.
Though he expects to win, he told CitizenLink it would be disastrous if a
ministry should ever be sued or prosecuted for engaging in reparative
therapy and lose.
"It would effectively shut ministries like Love in Action down, if they
could be subject to criminal prosecution or civil liability just for
advising people about homosexuality from a biblical perspective," he said.
"The greatest disservice would be to people who are struggling with
homosexuality because then they're not given any hope."
That makes it all the more important for ministries like Exodus and Love
in Action to continue to speak up when gay activists try to intimidate,
according to Maier.
"Though the road to change can be difficult," he said, "the research is
clear that many gay men and women who have sought reorientation therapy
have been able to achieve fulfilling, long-term heterosexual
relationships. Tragically, the NGLTF ignores this research and the
evidence of changed lives in pursuit of its duplicitous social agenda."
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To learn more about homosexuality and the truth about it, that change is
possible we recommend you begin with the Focus on Social Issues Web
site.
To learn more about Exodus International, the group's response to the
charges, and the help it can provide to people struggling to come out of
homosexuality please see the Exodus Web site.
Focus on the Family conducts Love Won Out conferences around the country
for the parents of teens and others who are concerned about homosexuality
-- and the untruths being perpetuated by homosexual activist groups. One
may be coming to a city near you. To find out more, please see the Love
Won Out Web site.
Mike Haley, director of the gender issues department at Focus on the
Family, has written a book which tries to answer some of your most
important questions about homosexuality: "101 Frequently Asked Questions
About Homosexuality."
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for
informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement of the
sites' content.)
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