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.

Exodus International Whines To CBN About Campaign To Remove iPhone App

Check out the screaming queen CBN announcer. And from the bio of Exodus spokesdick Jeff Buchanan: "Jeff has been a mentor to countless men seeking freedom from homosexuality." (Emphasis motherfucking mine.)

Tony Perkins Is Angry That Students Don't Like His Anti-Gay Hate Speeches

"Apparently, 'objectionable' is in the eye of the beholder. I experienced that first-hand on Friday when I was invited to speak at my alma mater in Baton Rouge. As a graduate of the Public Administration program at Louisiana State University, I've spoken in class before. This time, I was met by about 50 homosexual activists with signs and bullhorns demanding that I be kicked off campus because of my 'anti-gay' views. But the intolerance from outside quickly spilled into the Q&A, which was dominated by a few openly homosexual students and sympathizers who wanted to debate 'gay rights' and make clear that 'opposing' views had no validity--regardless of the evidence to the contrary.

"Following the lecture, several students did express appreciation for the substance of my lecture and my response to the verbal assaults. Unfortunately, even though the majority of people disagree with what the homosexual activists are saying and doing, they're afraid to be censured by the boisterous minority so they remain silent. And that's the real end game." - Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, in a press release denouncing the attempt to have the Exodus app removed from the iPhone store.

EX-GAY FALSEHOODS: Truth Wins Out Rips Lisa Ling's Pray Away The Gay Show

Truth Wins Out Launches Petition To Remove "Ex-Gay" App From iPhone

Truth Wins Out, the organization that fights the "ex-gay" movement, has launched a petition calling on Apple to remove Exodus International's new iPhone app.

This new iPhone app is the latest move in Exodus’ dangerous new strategy of targeting youth. In light of the recent wave of LGBT youth suicides, this tactic is particularly galling as it creates, legitimizes, and fuels the ostracism of LGBT youth by their families. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, LGBT teens who experienced negative feedback from their family were 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 6 times as vulnerable to severe depression, and 3 times more likely to use drugs (Caitlin Ryan, San Francisco State University, June 2009). Apple doesn’t allow racist or anti-Semitic apps in its app store, yet it gives the green light to an app targeting vulnerable LGBT youth with the message that their sexual orientation is a “sin that will make your heart sick” and a “counterfeit.” This is a double standard that has the potential for devastating consequences. Apple needs to be told, loud and clear, that this is unacceptable. Stand with Truth Wins Out — demand that the iTunes store stop supporting homophobia and remove the Exodus app.

Sign the petition here.

They Fell In Love At "Ex-Gay" Camp

Another clip has been released from the call-in show that followed OWN's Pray Away The Gay last night.

The Virgin "Ex-Gay"

One of the victims of Exodus International has decided that he would rather live his entire life without human intimacy than be gay. This clip is from the call-in show that followed last night's Pray Away The Gay show on OWN.

"Ex-Gays" Launch iPhone App

I wonder if it comes with a Grindr-like GPS function so they can find each other. To talk about Jeebus! And totally nothing else! Ex-Gay Watch has the app's description:

Exodus International is the world’s largest ministry to individuals and families impacted by homosexuality. With over 35 years of ministry experience, Exodus is committed to encouraging, educating and equipping the Body of Christ to address the issue of homosexuality with grace and truth.

Tonight On Oprah's New Network: Lisa Ling's Pray The Gay Away?

Here's a teaser from tonight's show.

Wife Of Totally Gay "Ex-Gay" John Paulk To Headline Exodus Conference

Exodus International invites you to pray away the gay at their upcoming Phoenix conference where the "ex-lesbian" wife of "ex-gay" former rentboy/drag queen John Paulk will speak. You may remember Paulk from the hilarious incident in which Wayne Besen busted him partying and chatting up menz in a DC gay bar, prompting Paulk to flee the room screaming as he shielded his face from Besen's camera. Whoopsie! Paulk was then forced to confess to Focus On The Family head James Dobson that he'd been in the bar for the purpose of "flirting." That got Paulk booted as chairman of the board of Exodus International. I guess they trust his wife to stay out of Phoenix gay bars.

HomoQuotable - Alan Chambers

"The leadership of Exodus international and its member ministries are grieved over the tragic murder of Ugandan gay activist David Kato and we send our sincerest condolences to his family & friends. [snip] Exodus International calls on President & Mrs. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni to lead their government into an era of treating all of their neighbors as they would like to be treated. It is abominable that a nation with Christian leadership would endorse or allow anyone to be brutally murdered. In the words of Jesus Himself, those who are without sin cast the first stone. Exodus International condemns the murder of David Kato and calls for justice to be fairly applied, not covered up, when the murderers are caught." - Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, whose board of directors member Don Schmierer is one of the three American evangelicals blamed for the explosion in anti-gay violence and legislation in Uganda.

(Via - Box Turtle Bulletin)

Anti-Gay Activist Denies Hand In Murder: I'm The One Being Bludgeoned

As I noted here, Exodus International board of directors member Don Schmierer was part of Scott Lively's three-day conference in Uganda, where Schmierer advised Ugandans on how to turn their gays kids straight. But don't go blaming David Kato's murder on HIM, he was only trying to help. In fact, HE is the victim here.

On Thursday, Don Schmierer, one of the American evangelicals who visited in Uganda in 2009, said Mr. Kato’s death was “horrible.” “Naturally, I don’t want anyone killed but I don’t feel I had anything to do with that,” said Mr. Schmierer, who added that in Uganda he had focused on parenting skills. He also said that he had been a target of threats himself, recently receiving more than 600 hate mails related to his visit. “I spoke to help people,” he said, “and I’m getting bludgeoned from one end to the other.”

Is This An Abandoned Anti-Gay Campaign From Exodus International?

Yesterday the below Russian-language clip appeared on YouTube directing Christian youth to send off for anti-gay stickers to be plastered anywhere it may be legal to do so. The linked site was registered in Ukraine in 2009 and doesn't appear to have been recently updated, but includes numerous testimonials that reference Exodus International's "ex-gay" conventions. Since we haven't heard about this sticker campaign before, it seems that Exodus may have abandoned this effort in the United States. Anybody have more information?

"My Parents Were Druggies And Alcoholics But NOW They're Not Gay Anymore!"

Why is it that almost every "ex-gay" person we hear about is also a former drug addict and/or alcoholic and/or felon? Could it be that happy, well-adjusted, healthy people in control of their lives don't need to run to Jeebus and blame their gayness as the source of their fucked-up existence?

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.

Focus On The Family Takes Over "Day Of Truth" Campaign Against LGBT Youth

Last month the "ex-gay" group Exodus International announced that they were suspending their annual "Day Of Truth" campaign to counter the Day Of Silence, saying that in light of the rash of LGBT youth suicides they could not continue such a divisive project. Focus On The Family has jumped in to fill the hate void, laughably and unironically renaming it the "Day Of Dialogue."

"We're trying to raise awareness that more than one side needs to be heard on the issue of homosexuality, and we're helping to ensure Christian students have the chance to express their viewpoint," said Candi Cushman, a Focus on the Family education analyst, in the release. "What is freedom of speech, after all, but a guarantee of the right to have dialogue?" Cushman criticized the Day of Silence, which is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. "Silence is a media op, but dialogue is a learning op," she said in the release. "That's why we're so proud of the more than 14,000 students who have taken advantage of this opportunity to learn and share." The Day of Truth had traditionally been held on the same day as the Day of Silence, but Focus on the Family said that the 2011 Day of Dialogue is scheduled for April 18, three days after the Day of Silence.

Good As You's Jeremy Hooper rips apart Cushman's lies about Focus On The Family's supposed wish for "dialogue"

But here's the thing: Just yesterday -- JUST. YESTERDAY! -- we saw FoTF's schools official, Candi Cushman, pushing an article that called on Christian students to see their gay classmates as "messed up sexually." As embracing "sexual brokenness." As in need of "change." There is no room for dialogue there! At the end of the day, Focus on the Family is still pushing anti-scientific "ex-gay" rhetoric that wishes to put wholly unbacked, entirely faith-based teachings on the same level as credible, peer-reviewed information. In America's PUBLIC SCHOOLS, they wish to do this.

"Ex-Gay" Group Exodus International Ends Opposition To Day Of Silence

Citing the recent spate of suicides among LGBT youth, the "ex-gays" at Exodus International announced yesterday that they were ending their opposition to the Day Of Silence, an annual student-led protest of the bullying of queer kids.

"All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they'd like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not," said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the group that sponsored the event this year. Called the Day of Truth, the annual April event has been pushed by influential conservative Christian groups as a way to counter to the annual Day of Silence, an event promoted by gay rights advocates to highlight threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The Day of Truth, held on the same day as the Day of Silence, "was established to counter the promotion of homosexual behavior and to express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective," according to a manual for this year's event published by Exodus International.

Focus On The Family said yesterday that they would continue to fight the Day Of Silence.

"Without question, Day of Truth is a loving and redemptive way students of faith can express their views positively in response to GLSEN's Day of Silence which only presents one point of view," Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family, said in a statement. "In contrast to the whole idea of 'silence,' Day of Truth has encouraged students to exercise their free speech rights and have an open dialogue while respectfully listening to others," Cushman said.

The Christianist-led Day Of Truth was created by the anti-gay Alliance Defense Fund, who handed over media responsibilities for the day to Exodus International earlier this year.

Quote Of The Day - Wayne Besen

"We blame the anti-gay industry for fighting measures to end bullying in schools, and school officials who turn a blind eye to brutality. We are fed up with what amounts to anti-gay schoolyard muggings that are foolishly dismissed as ‘boys being boys’. In reality, it is ‘boys beating boys’, and these bullies receive tacit approval for their violent, homophobic behavior by teachers and certain vocal segments of society.

"The goal of Exodus International and Focus on the Family is to purge LGBT people from society, although they disingenuously frame the issue as eliminating homosexuality, which is not possible. When you target homosexuality, the result is persecution and punishment of LGBT people, and in many cases it leads to gay bashing or suicides. The anti-gay industry should dismantle these despicable programs and work towards creating solutions instead of suicides." - Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen, responding the rash of suicides among the nation's LGBT youth.

CANADA: Website Fights Tax Exempt Status Of Exodus International

The website Slap Upside The Head says that the "ex-gay" group Exodus International, which recently lost its tax exempt status in New Zealand, does not deserve that status in Canada either.

All registered charities operating in Canada must provide what the Canada Revenue Agency calls a “public benefit.” This is a long legal definition that I can’t claim to fully understand, but, of particular note, a charitity’s activities must be “regarded as valuable by the common understanding of enlightened opinion,” and such value “must be weighed against any harm that may arise from the proposed activity and a net benefit must result.” Since homosexuality is not a recognised disorder by any respected medical organisation, it’s questionable as to what benefit could come out of trying to treat it as one. Moreoever, the consensus in the medical community is that all attempts to treat homosexuality as a disorder may cause serious psychological harm. With no clear benefit, and demonstrable harm from Exodus’ actions, I think there’s a strong case to argue that Exodus’ activities do not meet Canada’s criteria for charitable status.

If you are a Canadian citizen, please consider visiting the site's action page, which includes email addresses and phone numbers for the compliance department of Canada's Revenue Agency. This movement is in its early stages and the site's authors are seeking legal and medical experts willing to testify that the "ex-gay" movement is doing real demonstrable harm to the citizens of Canada.

Anne Heche's Mom Publishes Anti-Gay Book With Levitical Call For Death To Gays

Ex-Gay Watch reports that Nancy Heche, mother of wacko actress Anne Heche, has co-authored an anti-gay compendium titled The Complete Christian Guide To Understanding Homosexuality.

Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche are listed as the general editors. Though most of the book is written by Joe Dallas and Nancy Heche, contributing authors are listed as: Alan Chambers, Paul Copan, Melisa Fryrear, Mike Haley, Bill Maier and Randy Thomas. All of whom, with the exception of Paul Copan (to my knowledge), are or were speakers at Love Won Out [Exodus International] conferences.

EGW notes that the book contains the usual Levitical call for homosexuals to be put to death. So why hasn't Nancy Heche murdered her daughter?

My interest in homosexuality can be traced to my 25-year marriage to a man who, unbeknownst to me, was living a secret second life as a homosexual. It was his AIDS diagnosis (and eventual death) that finally brought our the truth. Years later, I would be dealing with this issue again from a more public perspective as my daughter, actress Anne Heche, embarked on a well publicized lesbian affair [with Ellen Degeneres].

Remember, we know the Bible is true because it says so in the Bible.