'Ex-gay' group Exodus International shuts down

BBC News, 20 June 2013

Chambers admitted keeping quiet
about his own same-sex attraction

A prominent US Christian group that purported to rid gay people of same-sex attraction through prayer has said it is shutting down.

Three-decade old Exodus International made the announcement alongside an apology from President Alan Chambers to people "hurt" by its treatment.

He acknowledged "the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change".

The move comes as California seeks to ban "conversion therapy" of gay people.

The state passed a law in September banning the therapy for minors, with Governor Jerry Brown saying it had "no basis in science or medicine". The law only applies to licensed therapists, not ministers or others; supporters of the therapy have appealed.

Also, last year the psychiatrist who conducted a 2003 study purporting to validate the treatment Exodus and other groups offered recanted his study and apologised.

'Looking for change'

In a statement entitled I Am Sorry and directed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, Mr Chambers, who is married to a woman, acknowledged "trauma that I have caused" and said he had kept quiet about his own same-sex attractions.

While saying he could "not apologize for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex", Mr Chambers said he was "sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized patients".

"I am sorry that there were times I didn't stand up to people publicly 'on my side' who called you names like sodomite - or worse... I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine."

Board members of Exodus said the decision to shut the organisation down had been unanimous.

"We're not negating the ways God used Exodus to positively affect thousands of people, but a new generation of Christians is looking for change - and they want to be heard," said board member Tony Moore.

The group said locally affiliated ministries, "which have always been autonomous", will continue, but "not under the name or umbrella of Exodus".

Gay rights activist and blogger John Aravosis told the BBC that he was initially cheered the group was shutting down, but believed the apology did not go far enough.

"It keeps talking about all the 'good' work they did being 'overshadowed' by a few bad apples," he said. "What part of trying to convince gay people that they could be cured by quack science was good?"

Jeremy Marks: 'I began to think that perhaps we’d got it
really wrong. ' Photograph: Lydia Goldblatt for the
Guardian

Related Articles:

Experience: I tried to 'cure' gay people

California law bans gay teen 'conversion' therapy

'Conversion therapy' for gay patients unethical, says professional body


About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack)

“ ... You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.The only identity that has any fundamental or lasting relevance to your Soul is your Divinity. Any other way you may label or identify yourself is transitory. It changes from one incarnation to the next. ..."

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?