Well it's about time!
In the good (well, awesome!) news department, reports are surfacing that Exodus International, one of the nation’s most prominent promotors of harmful “ex-gay” therapy, just announced that it was disbanding and apologized to the LGBT community for the damage it has caused to so many.
In his apology, Alan Chambers, the group’s president, wrote:
Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change...I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine.
According to Think Progress, the board of Exodus International unanimously voted to shut down and announced that it will begin a new organization dedicated encouraging churches to “become safe, welcoming, and mutually transforming communities.”
In light of this epic development, this essay (below, from the archives) on one man's experience with 'reparative therapy' is an especially timely one. Do you have any experience with an ex-gay minstiry? What are your thoughts about the demise of Exodus International, and its apology to the LGBT community? Leave your comments!
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I came out at an ex-gay ministry meeting.
You know, one of those groups (very similar to "Love in Action") that promise to help gays "recover" from their homosexuality and become "normal" again.
Continue reading "Slamming the Door on 'Ex-Gay' Ministries" »