This guest post is written by Yvette Cantu Schneider, a former policy analyst for Family Research Council and former head of Women’s Ministry of Exodus International. In a public declaration for GLAAD in July 2014, Schneider denounced reparative therapy and the work of anti-gay policy makers. Schneider will be the new Director of Advocacy and Policy for Canyonwalker Connections. Because […]
I’m never surprised when someone who claimed not to be gay suddenly announces that, surprise, they actually are gay. Like I’ve said many times before, I haven’t met a so-called ex-gay man I didn’t think was still gay. Not one. It’s one of many reasons I left the Christian Right and the advocacy work I […]
Last year many of you responded to a call for help for LGBT Russian youth in crisis. I’m back again to help a friend with a direct connection to a doctor working underground helping with medical care, HIV/AIDS medication and condoms. Last year a significant amount of money was raised through the connections I have […]
On a lovely October evening, I spent three delightful hours talking with Dr. Kenneth Lewes, a pioneer who challenged the American Psychoanalytic Association’s (APsaA) stances on homosexuality in the late 1980s. Dr. Lewes had already graciously given me over two hours of his time on a phone call several months before and had fact-checked a […]
“Perhaps conversion therapy seemed viable when homosexuality was still thought to be an illness; at this point, it is an idea whose time has come and gone” (Halderman). Those of us who endured the ex-gay movement can certainly agree with that statement. What makes it more significant, and a little disturbing, is that it was […]
I sent Christian a note on March 11th, 2011, a few days after I had seen him on the Lisa Ling Our America: Pray the Gay Away show. There was something unsettling and robotic about him in the televised interview. He said he was no longer gay; to me he looked empty. Ling visited his apartment; […]
For almost 40 years, the conservative Christian community has sought to outsource the “gay problem” to groups outside their church walls. Exodus International was founded in 1976 from a seed group established in 1973. Exodus became the most widely recognized group associated with the training and belief that gay people could become straight with reparative therapy […]
Three years ago, Lisa Ling presented “Pray the Gay Away” on “Our America”, Oprah Winfrey Network. The episode examined the two sides of Christian reparative therapy, an attempt to change homosexual people to heterosexuals. “God and Gays”, a follow-up to that show, is going to air on Thursday, June 20th at 10/9c on OWN TV Network. In […]
In the 1998, at the height of the marriage of Evangelical Christianity and conservative Republican politics, another marriage was being hailed as “proof” that gay people could indeed overcome their homosexuality. John and Anne Paulk, former gay and lesbian people, were displayed on the cover of Newsweek magazine with the header “Gay for Life? Going […]
Ex-gay speaker, Kent Paris spoke at Summit Christian Church in Sparks, Nevada this week over six sessions. I attended four of those sessions: one for 12 to 18 year olds and parents, two weekend services and one Q&A session this afternoon. Other than fifteen one-on-one minutes with Paris asking clarifying questions following the youth program, […]
[UPDATED 2/15/13 AFTER Q & A TIME ON SUNDAY] On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, “Ex-gay” leader Kent Paris of Nehemiah Ministries, was sponsored by Summit Student Ministries, Sparks, Nevada, to address over 200 youth (age 6th grade to high school years) with his views on the Bible and same sex attraction. Throughout the weekend, he […]
Most churches find themselves obliged to investigate the issue of homosexuality and the Bible. To have a serious, productive conversation, Christian churches need to either be equipped in leading such a conversation with facts, Biblical integrity and an honest conversation including as participants those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians. In lieu of […]
In September 2012, I attended the inaugural conference for Restored Hope Network (RHN) at Sunrise Community Church in Sacramento, CA. The forming committee for RHN had been gathering for several months in response to the belief that Exodus International was straying from its roots. When they concluded that their differences with Exodus were irreparable, several Exodus member ministries […]
In September 2012, I attended the inaugural conference for Restored Hope Network (RHN) at Sunrise Community Church in Sacramento, CA. The forming committee for RHN had been gathering for several months in response to the belief that Exodus International was straying from its roots. When they concluded that their differences with Exodus were irreparable, several Exodus member […]
In September 2012, I attended the inaugural conference for Restored Hope Network (RHN) at Sunrise Community Church in Sacramento, CA. The forming committee for RHN had been gathering for several months in response to the belief that Exodus International was straying from its roots. When they concluded that their differences with Exodus were irreparable, several Exodus […]
