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Gay teen speaks out against 'Love in Action'

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Mogul:

--- Quote from: K6 on Fri, Jun 09, 2006, 13:05 ---If the gay interest is to prosper,it is in some land where reason,science and education predominate.Not in a place peopled by cultureless serfs giving to superstition and religious faith a large support which no longer exists in other western societies.
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I suppose this is the main reason why millions of gays are migrating from the "Bible belt" to the coasts - there is little doubt that NY and SF are sufficiently progressive. However, the religious fundamentalists everywhere are raising their heads again - even in the enlightened Europe, one can witness their growing activities. In South- and East Europe they are even dominant. It is nowadays modern to be a professing Christian or a Moslem - this gives one certain areal of morality and a glance of martyrdom.

Mr. Besen is going to do an important job, and I am sure that if he accomplishes what he is aiming, he will rescue many young souls from being destroyed.

K6:

--- Quote from: Mogul on Fri, Jun 09, 2006, 00:47 ---Probably, the best possibility to make Ex-gay brainwashers stop their dangerous activities is to sue them for psychological abuse and mailpractice. Because the victims are probably mostly young, it is in the hand of LGBT organizations to initiate such law suits on behalf of ex-captives.

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In the US,this would amount at taking on religion and churches,which both enjoy a status ressembling the one of sovereign immunity.If the gay interest is to prosper,it is in some land where reason,science and education predominate.Not in a place peopled by cultureless serfs giving to superstition and religious faith a large support which no longer exists in other western societies.

K6

Feral:

--- Quote ---Do agitators of Ex-gay movement have access to public schools? This is incredible - though, I have heard some particularly smart politicians suggest "intelligent design" to be taught in schools, too.

Probably, the best possibility to make Ex-gay brainwashers stop their dangerous activities is to sue them for psychological abuse and mailpractice. Because the victims are probably mostly young, it is in the hand of LGBT organizations to initiate such law suits on behalf of ex-captives.
--- End quote ---

I am not sure how widespread their access to public schools is. Their attempts have become increasingly common, however. While the "intelligent design" issue has for the most part failed, the ex-gays do appear to be attempting to force their inclusion in public schools through threats of ruinous lawsuits with the legal assistance of the Liberty Council -- all in the name of "freedom of speech" and "tolerance" of their religious views. The strategy actually has potential, and it is good that Besen has thought to counter it.

The enemies of the gay people need to be countered on every front. When they bully corporations with letter-writing campaigns and boycotts, the gay people must counter with their own. When the Religious Right threatens lawsuits, the gay people must threaten their own.

Mogul:
The 10-point plan sounds well-thought and suitable to save lives of many young gays. I found the following passage of particular interest:


--- Quote ---III. LANDMARK LEGAL STRATEGY

The ex-gay ministries are vulnerable to potential lawsuits because they abuse victims and even cause  sucides.  TWO will create a Legal Advisory Board by working with GLBT legal organizations. This Legal  Board would play defense against the latest ex-gay strategy, which is to partner with Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Counsel in an effort to intimidate school districts into including ex-gays in public school curriculums. 
--- End quote ---

Do agitators of Ex-gay movement have access to public schools? This is incredible - though, I have heard some particularly smart politicians suggest "intelligent design" to be taught in schools, too.

Probably, the best possibility to make Ex-gay brainwashers stop their dangerous activities is to sue them for psychological abuse and mailpractice. Because the victims are probably mostly young, it is in the hand of LGBT organizations to initiate such law suits on behalf of ex-captives.

Feral:
Wayne Besen, whose blog is often a useful resource against the so-called ex-gay movement has founded a new organization. Truth Wins Out has a ten-point strategic plan to challenge the ex-gay ministries.

Lest one be deceived into believing that the ex-gay movement is a trivial assemblage of madmen, Mr. Besen hi-lights the group's political activities in this week's weekly column:


--- Quote ---This week, I am starting a non-profit organization, Truth Wins OUT to combat right wing misinformation campaigns, particularly the ex-gay hoax. As the author of "Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth," I have long witnessed how these groups shatter families and ruin lives. But, conversion therapy has mostly been the domain of the insane and a hobby for right wing fringe groups that exploited homosexuals with low self-esteem for political gain.

This changed on June 5 when President Bush invited Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the nation's largest ex-gay group, to a White House press conference supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would prohibit same-sex marriage in the U.S. Constitution.
--- End quote ---


--- Quote ---For decades, Exodus International had disingenuously claimed that it had no agenda but to "change" gay people into heterosexuals. But now this pretense has been stripped away as we see that its real aim is to change laws so that GLBT people will remain a persecuted minority.
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--- Quote ---Exodus has even worked to oppose laws that would penalize gay bashing. A staff member appeared in an ad targeting senators voting on hate crimes legislation that read: "Hate crime laws say we were more valuable as homosexuals than we are now as former homosexuals."

Although Exodus leaders pretend they love openly gay people, their true feelings are transparent. "As a property owner of Orlando, I wouldn't rent to someone who is gay any more than I would rent to a person who is a practicing witch," Chambers once lovingly told an Orlando newspaper.

The reason the president is embracing Exodus is because polls show that Americans who believe homosexuality can be cured are far more likely to support anti-gay legislation. For example, a November 2004 Lake, Snell, Perry and Associates poll shows that 79 percent of people who think homosexuality is inborn support civil unions or marriage equality. Among those who believe sexual orientation is a choice, only 22 percent support civil unions or marriage rights.

It is abundantly clear that the ex-gay ministries are the centerpiece of the right wing's culture war against gay people. Exodus has 12 full-time staffers dedicated to demeaning and dehumanizing GLBT Americans. The gay community has not one full-time individual to counter this propaganda. I am starting Truth Wins OUT (www.truthwinsout.org) to counter this misinformation and level the playing field.
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