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The Cure

I don't know whether you've noticed, but there are still a lot of folks running around who think that being a gay or lesbian is some sort of illness that needs to be "cured."

Places like Exodus International, Desert Stream Ministries, and Mastering Life Ministries all take pride in their claimed abilities to "cure homosexuals." Also entering the fray is a newcomer, "The Founding Fathers." (Between you and me I suspect the actual Founding Fathers are collectively spinning in their graves over this entire site.)

Most of these organizations are religious centric in that they are convinced, and they work to convince gay men and lesbians, that there is something biblically wrong with being gay or lesbian.

Exodus International has one of the more interesting stories. It was founded by Michael Busse and Gary Cooper (no, not the actor!) in 1976. After 3 years with the organization which they later called, "ineffective...not one person was healed" they left ... as lovers.

It wasn't that long ago that young gays and lesbians were carted off by their parents to institutes for shock treatment and other therapies in order to "cure" them. It was very disappointing to me that I couldn't find that part of our history on the Net. If any of you know of any resources to that end, please let me know, I'd like to add that information.

However, in general, the above groups are joined willingly, by people "wanting to change." What drives them to it, and are they successful? Let's take a look.

Doug tried very hard to "change" and he found, "In the past 3 years, I have learned that my gay sexual orientation is a gift from my creator. It is something to be accepted instead of rejected. It is something to be celebrated even."

Jim had problems because of a fundamentalist upbringing, "So, because of the fundamentalist Christianity, I spent my teenage years in guilt...."

Aaron ran into problems with Evergreen, the Mormon equivalent of Exodus, "Sadly, a friend who was in the same ex-gay program committed suicide after 2 years of electroshock. He had burns on his arms where they would shock him for showing sexual response to pictures. They even had him get married and have children to prove his straightness. Instead, he was visiting parks and alleys for sex"

Recently the APA took a hard stance against therapists who provide "conversion therapy" establishing guidelines for consent and methods.

But that's not going to stop the unlicensed people who pressure those who are already aware of society's biases via religious themes.

We'll take a deeper look at the various religious organizations, and religion in general next week. In the meanwhile, if you haven't read David Riley's article about the Episcopal Convention, you should.

In pride,
Deborah

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