Main | Saturday, July 07, 2012

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.

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