Religious Left

In a recent article (from the right) voicing the opinions of Melissa Fryrear (director of the gender issues department at Focus on the Family and “previously a lesbian”) she makes the following statements: Don’t people of faith have the same right as any other American to be a part of the public dialogue? And shouldn’t Christians have the right to live their lives according to their biblical beliefs? Hey Melissa, don’t gay Americans have the right to live their lives according to their biblical beliefs (or non-biblical beliefs)? Melissa, when you “cherry pick” parts of the bible you wish to espouse it will never work. NONE of the folks who scream and yell about living bibilically are doing so. We all know the bible is FULL of rules and laws which NO ONE follows any longer. Melissa, gay churches exist! This in itself proves some religious folks don’t share all of your beliefs. Melissa, last I noticed FOF is very much a part of the pubic dialogue. In fact Mr. Dobson was recently awarded...

by Kilian Melloy EDGE Boston The annual conference of Exodus International, a group that claims to "help" gay people "reject" their homosexual urges and identity, is underway in North Carolina. Conference attendee Jaye Thomas, a Rutherfordton resident who works with a group called Truth Ministry in Spartanburg, SC, and claims to be a heterosexual man who once was gay, goes so far as to characterize being gay as "the bondage of sex addiction." That message leaves a lot about gay life--family, children, deep and abiding devotion to a life partner--out of the picture, which is focused sharply on sex. full article

by Michael Airhart TruthWinsOut.org Zach Stark, who endured more than a month of involuntary detention in Exodus International’s costly live-in ex-gayification program Love In Action, appears briefly in the upcoming ex-gay documentary This Is What Love In Action Looks Like , which is planned for release later this year. Lance Carroll has a similar story:

by Peterson Toscano Many lesbian, gay and bisexual folks live with internalized homophobia. We grow up in a society that insists that heterosexuality is the approved norm, and anything other than it is not only "less than" but actually a perversion. Even when we did not hear bad things said about gays, lesbians and bisexuals, we have almost exclusively heard good things about heterosexuals while virtually nothing positive about people not heterosexual. We experienced heterosexual lives, loves, and desires prominently celebrated in pop songs, romantic comedies, religious services and billions of images. We got the message that non-heterosexuals were not fully human. I do not understand why the weight of heterosexism and homophobia affects some people more than others. Some of us actually have taken an aggressive stance to rid ourselves of our same-sex attractions and gender differences. We went to war with a part of ourselves. We called that part of ourselves Our Enemy. We dem...

A minister and former Christian college instructor has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a young man who sought counselling after he feared he was homosexual. Terrance Lewis, 60, will be sentenced at a later date. In earlier testimony, the alleged victim, now 29, told court he started meeting Lewis for counselling sessions in early 2000 after his parents caught him viewing gay pornography on the family computer. The man said Lewis started a program of “touch therapy,” which included the two kissing and fondling each other and engaging in sexual roleplaying. “He said I was to tell no one about it because no one would understand,” the man testified During “touch therapy” sessions in Lewis’ car, Lewis asked him to masturbate, the man said. Lewis also admitted to fantasizing about him, the man said. full article

According to Pat Robertson, God is using superhighway I-35 that runs from Canada to Mexico to purify America from sin. He says "I-35 is the highway spoken of in Isaiah 35:8 - "And a highway will be there; it will be called the way of holiness." So, evangelical Christians have set aside 35 days to use the cities around I-35 to rid America of sin, meaning "abortion clinics, gay bars, strip joints, and porn shops." God is using "purity sieges" to set America free. One of the main people featured in the clip posted below is James Stabile, who was apparently "cured" of his homosexuality by a minister at one of these purity sieges. Joseph Stabile said he’s fully accepting of his son’s sexual orientation and believes being gay is neither a choice nor a sin. Joseph Stabile said James left home to go out that Friday night and never returned. Joseph said James, or 'B.J.' as his parents affectionately refer to him, is bipolar and had stopped ta...

Although the stated aim of the movement is to turn gays straight and bring them to God, it actually now has as much to do with battling the gay rights movement by trying to prove that sexuality is not an immutable characteristic like race or gender. Ex-gay ministries began as redoubts for men and women trying to reconcile their faith and sexuality. But in the hands of the anti-gay Christian Right, they have become full-fledged propaganda machines depicting gays as sex-addicted, mentally ill, and stunted heterosexuals. Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., now runs its own traveling ex-gay ministry, Love Won Out, which has drawn crowds of several hundred in more than 50 cities since 2001. Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson finances studies on ex-gay "conversion therapies," and the late Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell, who once infamously claimed that gays, lesbians and other agents of liberalism spurred the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was a keynote spea...

Below are links to official statements concerning homosexuality from professional organizations, and their official policies relative to " reparative therapy ." American Academy of Pediatrics American Counseling Association American Medical Association American Psychiatric Association American Psychological Association National Association of Social Workers The term "reparative therapy" refers to psychotherapy aimed at eliminating homosexual desires and is used by people who do not think homosexuality is one variation within human sexual orientation, but rather still believe homosexuality is a mental disorder. The most important fact about "reparative therapy," also sometimes known as "conversion" therapy, is that it is based on an understanding of homosexuality that has been rejected by all the major health and mental health professions. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association...

James C. Dobson and his right winged "Focus on the Family" have been touting their "scientific study" regarding Gay Reparative/Conversion Therapy. The study has been debunked as junk science. As if that isn't enough, it's been a bit of a rocky road for them: Chris Austin, a preacher with Renew Ministries, received seven years’ probation John Paulk, board chair for Exodus International was photographed in a gay bar Ex-gay therapist and leaders in Australia denounced the therapy Of course they never mention the "therapy" has driven people to suicide.

"Pray away the gay" study flawed One of the authors of the latest "ex-gay" study is from the college that is considered the nation's evangelical flagship; the other is from Pat Robertson's university. They released their findings not in a scientific journal, but in a book published by a Christian press. The results were first announced - not to scientists but to a group of Christian counselors gathered in Nashville. Is it any wonder that the results of the study - to determine whether gay people can stop being gay - found that people can indeed turn off the homosexual attraction switch? Especially when the subjects of the study were participants in an evangelical Christian ministry and were already trying to "change"? And is it any wonder that the methodology of said study has been discounted?

An Irving, Texas "ex-gay" counselor has been convicted of sexually assaulting a male client, ordered to register as a sex offender, and sentenced to ten years in prison. AS Queerty reported in a Sept. 6 posting, Chris Austin, a preacher with Renew Ministries, received seven years’ probation even though he was sentenced to a decade in prison. Austin was also fined $2,500. "The abuse apparently involved a bit of unwanted penetration," Queerty reported, noting that a previous claim from 2001 pitted Austin against a man named Mark Hufford, who brought a civil suit against the preacher based on similar accusations, but later dropped it. Austin was the founder of Renew Ministries, which is a counseling center operating from an Irving, Texas church. Austin was affiliated with NARTH, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and had presented a seminar at a NARTH convention in 2004 called "Understanding and Treating Compulsive Sexual Behav...

NEW YORK - Truth Wins Out expressed relief today that Christopher Austin, an 'ex-gay' counselor in Irving, Texas, was convicted of sexually assaulting a client. Austin was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but received seven years probation, had to register as a sex offender and was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine. After years of reported abuse - including several alleged victims who testified at the trial - it is welcome news that Austin has finally been put out of business, says TWO. Austin spoke of the "devastating spiritual effects homosexuality has on a mans heart." However, he failed to take his own advice when he once wrote, "Before addressing the brokenness in others, we must defeat all the responses of our own flesh." "As we have seen with Christopher Austin, Mark Foley and Larry Craig, gay people who do not learn to accept themselves act out in unhealthy ways," said Besen. "I hope Austin can use this experience to come out and have hea...