Sandy Rios At The FRC Hate Summit

Remember when former Concernstipated Women head Sandy Rios predicted that "thousands of ex-gays will descend upon Washington DC."? And then NINE showed up? She got more of the same yesterday at the FRC's hate summit.

How To Prevent Homosexuality

"Ex-gay" Pastor Stephen Bennett was an alcoholic and a drug dealer. Because he was a homosexual and for no other reason. And now he'd like you to pay him to torture LGBT children. But first, send him a photo of that young man.

Why don't you take the time to pray, gather your thoughts, and write your story about your loved one or situation in a private letter, and personally address it to Stephen Bennett. As a man who once struggled with the homosexual lifestyle for many years, and now has been completely set free through Jesus Christ, Stephen personally reads and responds to every letter he receives. With your letter, please feel free to include a photo of your loved one. Your photo and your letter will remain completely private and confidential here at SBM. SBM will commit to fervently pray. Prayer changes everything!

The host of the below show closes Bennett's appearance by flogging a book by the founder of NARTH.

NYT: Rift Between "Ex-Gays" Deepens

The New York Times reports that more "ex-gay" ministries are moving to distance themselves from Exodus International, whose head Alan Chambers has admitted that reparative therapy never works.

Mr. [David] Pickup, an officer of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality [NARTH], composed of like-minded therapists, said reparative therapy had achieved profound changes for thousands of people, including himself. The therapy, he said, had helped him confront emotional wounds and “my homosexual feelings began to dissipate and attractions for women grew.” 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, a conservative lobbyist in New Jersey and president of a support group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays.

Chambers continues to call for lifelong celibacy for gays who can't force themselves into opposite-sex relationships.

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.

The New S.T.U.D.

HomoQuotable - John Smid

"So often people will say someone needs to 'repent' from homosexuality. It is something that actually cannot be repented of! People are, or they are not, homosexual. It is an intrinsic part of their being or personally, my being. One cannot repent of something that is unchangeable. I have gone through a tremendous amount of grief over the many years that I spoke of change, repentance, reorientation and such, when, barring some kind of miracle, none of this can occur with homosexuality." - John Smid, former head of Exodus International, who adds that he never once met a truly "ex-gay" person.

CBN Trots Out "Ex-Gay" Asshat To Counter Message Of MN Rep. Steve Simon

Even since Minnesota state Rep. Steve Simon's pro-gay religious message went viral, Christianist sites and networks have gone on the attack. Good As You points us to the below CBN News episode which trots out Exodus International's Randy Thomas to denounce Simon. Fast-forward to 9:30 on the clip.

HomoQuotable - Alan Chambers

"Children all over the world, including my two children are fans of Toy Story and to see a character like that [Woody] endorsing something that at this point children have no need to know about, it’s disappointing. For organizations like Exodus International, which has thousands of men and women like me who have lived a gay life, it obviously didn’t get better living a gay life for them." - Exodus International's head homo Alan Chambers, denouncing Google for airing an It Gets Better ad during Glee.

TRAILER: This Is What Love In Action Looks Like

To debut at this year's San Francisco LGBT Film Fest.

Former "Ex-Gays" PWN Exodus International's Alan Chambers

Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out:

Alan Chambers denies that his organization participates or endorses reparative therapy. However, when one goes to Exodus Books on Chambers’ website, there are books about reparative therapy prominently listed. In the picture below, one can see two such therapy books sold on the Exodus website. Clearly, Chambers speaks out of both sides of his mouth and dissembles when in front of secular audiences. To say that Chambers is truth challenged is not a matter of opinion. It is an indisputable, well-established fact.

Enjoy the pwnage.

PFOX: "Ex-Gay" Is An Orientation

As today's Day Of Silence occurs at the nation's schools, the self-hating homosexuals at PFOX are demanding recognition as a sexual orientation other than straight or gay.

"If you're going to worry about sexual orientation non-discrimination and pick a day every year to host it, shouldn't that include all sexual orientations, such as former homosexuals," the PFOX executive director questions. "Where are their rights?" So she is encouraging students to distribute her organization's literature in schools today so that the message of hope will reach a hurting community. "By providing resources and educating [students] about the ex-gay community, we are at the same time giving them options," Griggs notes. "But it is an option, and only they can make the decision." But while she does not think students should be denied any information that allows them to make decisions, she laments that that is "what's happening in America's schools."

Even though the members of PFOX were doubtlessly bullied and abused as gay teenagers, they want that same abuse to continue for today's children. What's the word for that?

Press Release Of The Day

From Wayne Besen at Truth Wins Out.

Every now and again we highlight “ex-gay” activists who disappear from the scene. One such individual is Mike Ensley, who was laid off from Exodus in 2008. For those who do not remember, Ensley was the group’s “Youth Analyst”, with the insidious role of brainwashing young people. He has now reinvented himself as an Orlando-area photographer named “Philip Michael” with a penchant for homoerotic art house photos — particularly focusing on tanned musclemen.

Besen reports that Ensley hung up on him when called to ask about his new business.

PFOX "Ex-Gays" To Hand Out Lying Propaganda On Day Of Silence

The "ex-gays" at PFOX are asking students, parents, and teachers to distribute their brochures during this week's Day Of Silence. Because since the pro-gay kids will be silent, they can't complain.

"We invite schools to distribute our ex-gay brochures year round," said Regina Griggs, PFOX's executive director, "but this Friday is especially important because it is considered a 'day of silence' by homosexual school clubs. This means that members of gay student clubs and their allies will purposely remain silent all day in school to protest intolerance against homosexuals and cross-dressers." "Because homosexual activists try to censor the ex-gay point of view, PFOX asks students to distribute ex-gay literature to their friends in support of equality for the ex-gay community," said Griggs. "The day of silence enables students to distribute ex-gay literature without harassment since opponents are obligated to remain silent that day."

CANADA: "Ex-Gays" At Exodus Global Alliance May Lose Charity Status

Canada's New Democratic Party is working to rescind the charity status of Exodus Global Alliance, the "ex-gay" Christianist group recently denied such status in New Zealand.

"Our issue is that they purport to be able to cure homosexuality. Homosexuality is not an mental illness," said Matthew McLauchlin, co-chair of the federal NDP's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Committee. "If all we were talking about was promoting a certain religious view of homosexuality we wouldn't be having this conversation," he said. "They are promoting something that's directly against the public interest." McLauchlin, who ran for the NDP in three federal elections, said the Quebec wing of the NDP unanimously adopted a position to strip the organization of its charitable status at a convention in Gatineau on Nov. 20. "It can issue tax receipts for donations, but in our opinion it violates provisions of the Canada Revenue Agency that says that registered charities must offer a tangible public benefit," said McLauchlin.

While their website speaks of nothing but "curing homosexuality," Exodus makes no mention of such activities on their submitted request for tax-exempt status to the Canada Revenue Agency.

World Bank Donates To "Ex-Gays" At PFOX

World Bank, whose stated mission is ending poverty through loans to developing countries, has listed the "ex-gay" group PFOX as a suggested group for charity giving by its employees. World Bank matches employee donations at rates from 50-100% and places PFOX directly above PFLAG on its list of endorsed charities. Chris Geidner reports at Metro Weekly:

PFOX supports so-called ''conversion'' therapy – by which people who identify as gay attempt to become ex-gay – and the National Association for Reparative Therapy (NARTH), specifically. One of the few videos on the PFOX YouTube channel is a video of an interview with former NARTH president Dr. Joseph Nicolosi. Another shows a televised debate between PFOX's Peter Sprigg and Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen, who has been writing about the ex-gay organizations for more than a decade. Besen told Metro Weekly on Wednesday afternoon, "It's as sickening as it is scandalous." Besen said that the former president of PFOX, Richard Cohen – who Besen described as "the guru of the organization to this day" – runs the International Healing Foundation and "sent his protégé to Uganda – and what came from that was the Anti-Homosexuality Bill" that has been the subject of intense worldwide scrutiny and criticism. "Here's this group that is tied to what can only be described as an eliminationist campaign, worldwide, against gay people," Besen said, "and they're receiving money from the World Bank?"

The self-haters at PFOX will now be able to tout their relationship with World Bank as they attempt to legitimize their campaign against their own people. Unbelievable. Read Chris Geidner's complete expose on this travesty.

Advocate Locates Geo/Lucien

The Advocate has learned the real name of the elusive Geo/Lucien, but the kid is still not talking.

“Lucien,” the young man at the center of an emerging scandal involving one of the most influential leaders of the "ex-gay" movement, is known on his Facebook and MySpace profiles as Jo-vanni Roman, The Advocate has learned. Reached Tuesday afternoon by phone, a man purporting to be Roman repeatedly declined to discuss any details of being hired by Rekers for a recent 10-day trip to Madrid and London. “I don’t think people realize how serious this has gotten, and I would have talked about this had my privacy been respected,” Roman said, referring to his Rentboy.com profile, which was posted Tuesday by Unzipped followed by several gay blogs. “There’s absolutely nothing else I can say,” Roman added. According to Facebook and MySpace profiles created by Roman, he is a 20-year-old Miami resident and a 2008 graduate of Felix Varela High School in The Hammocks, an unincorporated suburb located 20 miles west of Miami.

I've written Jo-Vanni via Facebook and again requested an interview. We're not holding our breath, but in the meantime, check out his 2008 teen angst-laden MySpace rant about the difficulty of finding "a nice guy in this fucking city."

Why Did DC Honor "Ex-Gay" Group PFOX?

Christian Newswire is crowing this morning about a certificate of appreciation given to the leader of the nasty "ex-gay" group PFOX by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty.

The government of the District of Columbia has awarded a certificate of appreciation to Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). The certificate, signed by D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, recognizes Griggs for her "dedication, commitment, and outstanding contributions as Executive Director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays." "Regina's award is well-deserved," said Greg Quinlan, President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays. PFOX presented the award to Griggs last week in honor of her ten years of volunteer service to parents and the ex- gay community. "Regina has served as executive director without pay. Instead, she prefers that donations be used to develop resources for families and teens, to promote unconditional love for all regardless of sexual orientation, and to seek equal access and protection for the ex-gay community," said Quinlan. "Her dedication is unparalleled."

The Gay & Lesbian Activist Alliance of Washington DC is NOT happy.

In an open letter addressed to Mafara Hobson, spokesperson of the mayor's office, Rick Rosendall, vice president of political affairs for GLAA, says: ''PFOX is notorious as a purveyor of junk science which constitutes an ongoing slander against gay people. ''GLAA in the past has defended PFOX's First Amendment right to express its noxious views, but PFOX certainly does not deserve any honor or recognition from our Mayor.'' Rosendall goes on to request three things: an explanation of the honor, a rejection of the ''ex-gay'' movement from Fenty, and a description of what Fenty plans to do to undo the perception that he approves of PFOX's mission. ''Given the Mayor's record of support for gay families,'' Rosendall adds, ''it is painful to see him honor someone with the pernicious record of a Regina Griggs.''

Seriously, Fenty. WTF?

UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that Fenty has issued an apology.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty apologized Thursday over his decision to issue a certificate of appreciation honoring the leader of the ex-gay movement, which believes homosexuals can be rehabilitated. Fenty’s statement comes one day after local and national gay-rights leaders demanded to know why Fenty honored Regina Griggs, executive director of the Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays. Mafara Hobson, a Fenty spokeswoman, called Griggs’ award a “staff-level error.” “We apologize for the error as it runs contrary to the mayor’s vision of a more open and inclusive city,” Hobson said. “The mayor is proud of his ardent support of the LGBT community.”

Sorry About That, Exodus

I guess them there "ex-gays" at Exodus International didn't care for our freeping of their anti-gay youth Day Of Truth poll yesterday - they've yanked it from their site. [Insert Nelson laugh.]

Cola War: PFOX Vs. PFLAG

"Ex-gay" nutters PFOX are trying to get PepsiCo shareholders riled up because the company made a donation to PFLAG. Via World Net Daily:

PFOX alleges that PepsiCo is the leading corporate sponsor of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc., whose recent publication, a Faith Field Guide, urges PFLAG members to protest against religious conferences that feature formerly homosexual speakers. The guidebook labels the "ex-gay" conferences as "anti-gay," and prompts the protests "to remind people that there is more than one faith message." PFOX questions, however, why a soft-drink company that has declared itself to be "committed to diversity and inclusion without imposition of personal judgment" would exclusively back one side of a theological debate. "Why does PepsiCo fund organizations like PFLAG, which issue religious publications urging readers to undermine other religions with which PFLAG disagrees?" asked Regina Griggs, executive director of PFOX, in a statement. "Is this the best use of PepsiCo funding?

PFLAG encourages members to protest against the "ex-gay" conferences run by Focus On The Family. Griggs: "Why does PepsiCo continue to fund organizations which hate the ex-gay community? PepsiCo's actions adversely affect its public image, goodwill and stock value."

ACTION: Send an appreciative message to PepsiCo's Investor Relations office for their support of PFLAG: investor@pepsico.com.

Disney Refuses To Recognize "Ex-Gays"

The Parents and Friends of "Ex-Gays" (PFOX) have lost their attempt to be included under Disney's employee protections rules. Via the American Family Association:

The Walt Disney Company has declined a motion to add former homosexuals to its sexual orientation and non-discrimination policy and diversity training, a measure that would have meant protections for those who have left that lifestyle. Greg Quinlan, director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), presented the resolution at the recent annual shareholders meeting in San Antonio. But he explains that Disney board chairman John E. Pepper "responded in saying that the current policies were very inclusive and were very broad and that they could not lift every possible nuance to come."

But, since the days of Michael Eisner as CEO, several so-called "nuances" have been added "where they included transsexuals, transvestites, as well as gay, lesbian and bisexual," Quinlan adds. "Transexual, transvestite is...still considered a mental health disorder," he notes. That is also in accordance with the diagnostic manual used by most mental health professionals. But those who have left the homosexual lifestyle are, in effect, placed in a closet, says Quinlan. "Well, they don't want to recognize anyone's right of self-determination -- and that was the point," the PFOX director notes.

Quinlan vows to try again at the next shareholders meeting.

"Ex-Gays" Complain Libraries Won't Stock Their Books

The "ex-gay" movement is complaining that school and public libraries are refusing to stock books that tell people it's possible to change their sexual orientation.

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX) says there's an entire community of people across the world who say that their sexual orientation changed from gay to straight. But they're not getting their message out, the group says, because libraries across the country refuse to carry literature that describes these experiences or any studies that support them. So a book like "My Genes Made Me Do It!: A Scientific Look at Sexual Orientation" — which argues that sexuality is shaped by a variety of factors, not just biological — can't get a spot on the school library shelf. Neither can "You Don't Have to Be Gay," which describes author Jeff Konrad's struggle to overcome his unwanted same-sex attractions.

But "Baby Be-Bop," the coming-out story of a gay teen, which includes descriptions of his sexual encounters in bathroom stalls with men he never talks to, makes the stacks. So does "Love & Sex: Ten Stories of Truth," which describes a gay teen's relationship with his tutor with excerpts like: "Matt had one leg locked between mine, so that his d—- was smashed between his stomach and my thigh. And as his hand jerked up and down on me his hips humped with the same rhythm." Ask why the "ex-gay" books aren't making the cut, and the answers range. Some say the books simply haven't been reviewed by the proper institutions; others say the idea the books promote — that homosexuality is a treatable condition — can be psychologically damaging to homosexuals.

PFOX's Regina Griggs warns that libraries "can expect more lawsuits nationwide."