Alan Chambers Admits Sexual Orientation Cannot Be Changed

Alan Chambers is President of Exodus International and a leading "ex-gay" for pay. In a new book, he more or less admits that the claim that one's sexual orientation can be changed is a lie. Chambers has an interview up on Daddy Dobson's CitizenLink wherein he states that " there is a way out for those who want it. But it doesn’t say that they’re going into heterosexuality, because that’s not the point. The point is that people can leave whatever it is that God calls less . . . " Frankly, I am rather amazed that the interview was published by an FOF affiliate since Focus on the Family's bogus "Love Won Out" program continually claims that sexual orientation is changeable. Here are some more highlights from the interview:

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1. The title of the book is telling. It’s called Leaving Homosexuality, not Entering Heterosexuality. Why is that? What’s the difference?

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The key thought here is the opposite of homosexuality isn’t heterosexuality. It’s holiness. There are people who are conflicted with their sexuality, involved with homosexuality, and there is a way out for those who want it. But it doesn’t say that they’re going into heterosexuality, because that’s not the point. The point is that people can leave whatever it is that God calls less than His best and move into something that is His best, becoming more like He is.

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2. Now, I’ve heard it, and you’ve heard it: Gay activists are going to read that and say, again, “Alan Chambers is living a lie. He’s suppressing who he really is.” You make a great point in the book that is very applicable to anyone who struggles with any temptation -- and that is, self-denial isn’t a bad thing. How do you respond to those who say you’re just living a lie?

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For so long I’ve heard gay activists say to me, “You’re just in denial. You’re not grasping the reality of the situation. You’re just denying who you really are.” The truth is, I am in denial, but it is self-denial. I’m not in denial of who I used to be. I’m not in denial of the temptations that I could still experience. I am denying the power that sin has over me.

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5. There are some remarkably honest passages in this book -- from the details of your childhood to the details of your sexual addictions to the details of your wedding night and your honeymoon. This book is not going to go under the radar when it comes to the attention of gay activists. A lot of them read CitizenLink. They’re going to see this story. What would you say to them as they learn about some of the details of your story they may not have known before?

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This is me being honest. I have nothing to hide. There is absolutely no reason for me to be anything other than candid about the truth of my life, because I think it really speaks to the bigger issue. And that is, who do I trust? Who is my hope in? Who is my security found in? Who do I look to for every answer? And that is Jesus Christ.

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Actually, I think Chambers has a lot to hide: all of the lives of gays that he and his fellow "ex-gays" for pay have harmed and those who have been driven to suicide due their inability to "change." Jeremy at Good As You has a good summation of Chambers and those like him who continue to cling to flawed interpretations of a few Bible passages as a reason to lead miserable lives and encourage others to join them in their misery:

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We really have nothing to add. In fact, it seems that we basically have the same assessment of Alan as he has of himself. He's "self-denying" what is naturally within him, making a choice to live as who he thinks he should be rather than what he naturally was/is/could be. And he's doing so because he, unlike medical science, refuses to see homosexuality as an orientation that is fittingly compared to heterosexuality, instead choosing to position it as an aberration from the one and only accepted norm. but we get it and fully support his right to live, what seems like (but may not be), a conflicted life.

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Our issue is now and forever has been Alan and his community's role in passing off this information as factual information rather than personal belief/choice. Let's not forget that this is the same Gary Schneeberger who, just this month, tried to spin what was essentially an internal NARTH press release as a credible, peer-reviewed journal purporting to find benefit in "ex-gay" therapy. And let's not forget that this is the same Alan Chambers whose sole paycheck (as far as we can tell) is derived from using his own personal choice to convince countless many parents and impressionable (often hurting) teens that this, their own constrictive version of the gospel, is, well -- the gospel.