Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Exodus From Exodus

Exodus International holds out the promise that anyone experiencing same-sex attractions can find a way out of homosexuality into the glorious world of heterosexuality, where milk and honey flow freely down streets of gold. They use a combination of faith and quack science in order to convince those conflicted over their sexuality that change is possible.

The problem....

Their claim is complete crap and does not work. While some people are able to deny their sexuality for a number of years...which exodus will be quick to tout as a success story....still others find the emotional pain to much to bear and  leave the program and their faith behind. Still others lose all hope that they will be o.k. and chose to end their lives. The damage that ex-gay programs do to their members is incalculable yet they continue to operate despite evidence of the harm they cause. How much will it take before they are completely discredited to the extent that no one will seek out their services? How about one of the founders of Exodus who, having fought his own sexuality through exodus, has come out to say that the program doesn't work....at all....not even a tiny little bit. Michael Bussee, one of Exodus co-founders, is attempting to set the record straight regarding the organization and the harm it can do....including the fact that the program never helped even its original founders...Michaels words after the jump.




Oh my...so you mean Exodus continued to represent itself as capable of changing an individuals sexual me orientation when it couldn't even change its own founders same-sex attractions? What a surprise....



And there we have some pretty damning testimony, if not a smoking gun. While Mr. Bussee still avoids saying that no one has succesfully changed their sexual orientation under Exodus' care, making the claim "I never saw it happen" pretty much amounts to the same thing.

While Bussee has come out against Exodus before the current round of interviews serve something like a video confessional, further shedding light on a program that NEVER worked...not even for its founders. And lest you think Mr. Bussee is a rogue...he is one of three Ex-Exodus members to come forward with apologies and denunciations of Exodus' work, as recorded two years ago via Box Turtle Bulletin. Darlene Bogle an ex ministry leader for Exodus has issued and apology to all who came under her care during her tenure at Exodus.



Also from BTB's original interview series: Jeremy Marks of Exodus International Europe...



Even with these sources taking a stand against an organization that they help found AND all of the credible science community denying the efficacy of  reparative therapy, they continue to operate. Parents who think their child is possesed or deluded into believing they are gay still check them in for a good ol' fashion brain washing to set them straight(pun intended)t. Its just too bad that some of us don't check out and those that do make it out carry the scars to show their journey through darkness. And its all the more shamefull for the admission of what we knew all along...that it doesn't work. We find the love and happiness we seek by accepting who we are NOT by further denying the truth and burying it deeper.

So the next time you see ads like this one from the Parents and Friends of Ex-gays:


Remember these stories and know that you don't need to change. We are not broken and certainly not in need of repair.

5 comments:

  1. God loves His little rainbows.

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  2. Great article, it is definitely something that can't be said enough!

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  3. Great article. So true we don´t need to be repaired, cause nothing is broken. Why does people have so hard to understand that it´s just as natural to be gay as it is to be straight. Love can´t be wrong...

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  4. I love it! "We are not broken and certainly not in need of repair." No BETTER way to summarize the whole dang thing!
    While I did not EVER have to FACE such condemnation and propaganda such as EXODUS, I have a dear friend that did. We met in first grade - best friends by GRADE SIX and on - even off to college together to BECOME TEACHERS - yep, even co-workers as adults but WE NEVER knew each other was gay. NO JOKES please! lol WE never talked about it!
    WE were JUST who we were - then HIS family SENDS him off - he does not even tell me until years later - in our 30's "Roger, I am GAY." Even then it took another eight months before I got the courage to TELL him the same dang thing about me!
    I was fortunate coming out in the 1990s in my early 30's - I remember my mother's words as CLEARLY today as when she spoke them to me - "Roger, when you were born I noticed you had blue EYES, and I loved you for that. Later I noticed you were left handed - and I LOVED you for THAT. Now you tell me you are gay - and you know what - I love you for that. There will be people that may have problems with that - maybe in OUR own family - but remember it is THEIR problem not YOURS. Hold your head held high and be proud of who and what you are in ALL respects - because I am PROUD of you.“ THAT is true unconditional love at its best.
    My buddy? Well, NOT as lucky. TO his family that secretly followed him for months - listened to his phone messages and THEN THREW it in his face as the worst thing that ever happened "their family." (not to mention the 2 illegitimate children of his older brother brought home after a tour in the military, his older sister’s divorce that NO ONE was allowed to discuss, or the fact that his little sister was SO happy to learn of her NEW BABY on the way so soon after her wedding day - only to DISCOVER that the LITTLE one that came along just HAPPENED to be the was the WRONG color when her white HUBBY saw the beautiful Mulatto child she brought into the world – woops! –my buddy being GAY was the WORST thing his family ever had to face! He was sent to Exodus - his words - a gay pickup organization for closeted gays - but IT did not change him. Now 20 years later - STILL gay - and STILL living in a self imposed closet to PROTECT those that love him. DO THEY? SHAME on each of them and to all others to send those they love to face shock therapy, medication, weatherboarding that would get BUSH and CHENEY excited - is THIS LOVE? HELL, no.

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  5. Of course it's all a scam. A friend of ours tried it. Came out of it one hell of a psychological mess. Still gay btw, that didn't change even though he tried to do so.

    I can understand the pressures to change though. I ended up married when I was young even though I knew even then I was gay.

    But thankfully there wasn't any religious involvement. I walked away from the church as a teenager and never looked back.

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