Sunday, August 3, 2014
Nine former members of the "ex-gay" movement pen letter supporting a ban on conversion therapy.
Nine former leaders of the ‘ex-gay’ movement have published an open letter in support of the #BornPerfect campaign of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), which aims to ban ‘conversation (sic) therapy’ across the US within five years.
The letter was signed by: Brad Allen, Michael Bussee and Yvette Cantu Schneider, formerly of Exodus International; Jeremy Marks, founder of Exodus Europe and Courage UK; Bill Prickett, founder of Coming Back; Tim Rymel and John J. Smid, formerly of Love in Action; Catherine Chapman, formerly of the Portland Fellowship; and Darlene Bogie, founder of Paraklete Ministries.
“Together we represent more than half a century of experience, so few people are more knowledgeable about the ineffectiveness and harm of conversion therapy,” the letter reads in part.
“We know first-hand the terrible emotional and spiritual damage it can cause, especially for LGBT youth. We once believed that there was something morally wrong and psychologically ‘broken’ about being LGBT. We know better now.”
Today the idea that you can "cure" somebody of their sexuality by shaming them and demanding that they repress their desires seems almost like lunacy. But that is how we have treated the LGBT community for thousands of years.
Everybody needs love and acceptance. Especially when they feel different from what is perceived as "normal."
When I first began to realize that my daughter liked girls instead of boys, I made the decision to be supportive no matter what, and to open myself to accepting her as she was, and not how I imagined her to be.
When you love your child, you love them. There should never be conditions on that love.
If a gay child, or any child, has that from their family, then they are already on the road to acceptance and confidence with who they are.
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