Cat Fight Develops Between "Ex-Gay" Myth Proponents

UPDATED: Religion Dispatches also has a good piece on what the Christianists consider to be Alan Chamber's hersey.  Here's a sampling:

Chambers acknowledged that most Exodus members are single and remain so, that those who are married are trying to salvage an existing marriage rather than starting new, straight ones, and that homosexual desire stays homosexual desire. “In the past,” he said, “we’ve been aligned with organizations that believe feelings can completely change, temptations can completely go away. We now believe that’s an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation that can cause a lot of damage.” Rather than insisting on change, the organization now claims to help support those who wish to align their sexual lives with their religious faith. “We’re here to support those who are in conflict at the place where their sexual attractions meet their faith,” Chambers said.

This is not to say that Exodus can necessarily be trusted to independently take those and other positions in support of the life and liberty of gay people in a responsible and timely fashion. But it does suggest that Exodus is changing, is engaged in an actual conversation with gays and lesbians, and is receptive to efforts to keep it a little more honest and hold it a little more accountable. That change may be tentative, its direction may be uncertain, it may well be motivated by money, and suspicion, of course, is warranted. But dismissing that change is inaccurate

Needles to say hate groups such as Family Research Council and American Family Association are beside themselves.   Personally, I suspect that Chambers - like Warren Throckmorton who used to advocate that change was possible - has seen the hand writing on the wall.  With all legitimate medical and mental health associations condemning "reparative therapy" it is only a matter of time before these bogus ministries and therapists who perpetuate the change myth are either shut down by state regulators or hit with major lawsuits.  Thus the issue is either move away from the disingenuous change myth or be shut down and put out of business over the longer term.

ORIGINAL POST: One of the things that gives me perverse pleasure is watching the Christofascists get in a cat fight amongst each other when someone finally briefly acknowledges reality and makes an "the emperor has no clothes" statement that draws attention to the lies and disingenuousness of their former compatriots.  A case in point? Exodus International's recent admission that gays cannot change their sexual orientation.  This is utter heresy to the "family values" organizations and professional Christians who have pour tons of money and crafted a relentless propaganda campaign to try to convince the public, but more importantly, politicians that being gays is a "choice" or a "behavior" as opposed to in immutable characteristic - an immutable characteristic that would support non-discrimination laws just like race, national origin and gender.   It's also heresy to the psychologically disturbed "ex-gays for pay" who see their livelihood going down the toilet if they can't prey on those tortured by toxic religious belief to line their wallets and bank accounts.  The New York Times looks at the in fighting now overtaking this group of charlatans as Exodus International belatedly begins to accept scientific reality.  Here are some excepts:

For more than three decades, Exodus International has been the leading force in the so-called ex-gay movement, which holds that homosexuals can be “cured” through Christian prayer and psychotherapy.

Exodus leaders claimed its network of ministries had helped tens of thousands rid themselves of unwanted homosexual urges. The notion that homosexuality is not inborn but a choice was seized on by conservative Christian groups who oppose legal protections for gay men and lesbians and same-sex marriage. 

But the ex-gay movement has been convulsed as the leader of Exodus, in a series of public statements and a speech to the group’s annual meeting last week, renounced some of the movement’s core beliefs. Alan Chambers, 40, the president, declared that there was no cure for homosexuality and that “reparative therapy” offered false hopes to gays and could even be harmful. His statements have led to charges of heresy and a growing schism within the network.

In a phone interview Thursday from Orlando, Fla., where Exodus has its headquarters, Mr. Chambers amplified on the views that have stirred so much controversy. He said that virtually every “ex-gay” he has ever met still harbors homosexual cravings, himself included. Mr. Chambers, who left the gay life to marry and have two children, said that gay Christians like himself faced a lifelong spiritual struggle to avoid sin and should not be afraid to admit it. 

He said Exodus could no longer condone reparative therapy, which blames homosexuality on emotional scars in childhood and claims to reshape the psyche. And in a theological departure that has caused the sharpest reaction from conservative pastors, Mr. Chambers said he believed that those who persist in homosexual behavior could still be saved by Christ and go to heaven.

Mr. Chambers’s comments come at a time of widening acceptance of homosexuality and denunciation of reparative therapy by professional societies that say it is based on faulty science and potentially harmful.

A bill to outlaw “conversion therapy” for minors has passed the California Senate and is now before the State Assembly. Earlier this year, a prominent psychiatrist, Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, apologized for publishing what he now calls an invalid study, which said many patients had largely or totally switched their sexual orientation.

Some in the ex-gay world are more scathing about Mr. Chambers.   “I think Mr. Chambers is tired of his own personal struggles, so he’s making excuses for them by making sweeping generalizations about others,” said Gregg Quinlan . . . 

Many of the local ministries in Exodus continue to attack gays and lesbians, said David Roberts, editor of the Web site Ex-Gay Watch, and they often have close ties with reparative therapists. He speculated that Mr. Chambers was trying to steer the group in a moderate direction because “they were becoming pariahs” in a society that is more accepting of gay people. 

Mr. Chambers said he was simply trying to restore Exodus to its original purpose when it was founded in 1976: providing spiritual support for Christians who are struggling with homosexual attraction. 

He said that he was happy in his marriage, with a “love and devotion much deeper than anything I experienced in gay life,” but that he knew this was not feasible for everyone. Many Christians with homosexual urges may have to strive for lives of celibacy.  But those who fail should not be severely judged, he said, adding, “We all struggle or fall in some way.”

As one who tried to "pray away the gay" for 37 years and experienced profound self-hate and self-loathing when I could not "change" I know full well what a line of utter bullshit the "ex-gay" myth is in fact.  What religiously tortured gays need to do is find a new church and/or denomination as opposed to trying to change the unchangeable.  If those who in my opinion are psychologically disturbed such as Greg Quinlan want to delude themselves and pretend that they have "changed," it's their right to do so.  But they need to cease disseminating lies and trying to convince legislators that sexual orientation is not an immutable characteristic.  I also believe that straight spouses need to think twice before they marry an "ex-gay" who despite the best of intentions simply can never be straight.