December 23, 2013
2013's Top 5 Worst Moments for 'Ex-Gays'
EDGE READ TIME: 5 MIN.
The thirteenth year of the millennium proved to be an unlucky one for the "ex-gay" movement. From the passage of conversion therapy bans in New Jersey and California, to the closing of flagship ex-gay ministry Exodus International, and the comical failure of ex-gay "advocacy" group Voice of the Voiceless' "Ex-Gay Pride Rally", 2013 was the year that "pray the gay away" went astray. EDGE was here to cover the best ex-gay fails.
5. A Drag Queen Alumna Gets Her Alma Mater To Cancel Conversion Program Speech
When drag artist Clinton Leupp found out in an alumni newsletter that his alma mater, Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx was hosting a talk for parents about conversion therapy options for their children, he did what he does best. He put on his red wig, slapped some makeup on and unleashed the wrath of Miss Coco Peru. The speech was canceled. Score one for the drag queen!
4. Noted ’Ex-Gay’ Blogger Caught on Grindr?
As with most cases, whenever the gay is prayed away, "the gay" acts like a boomerang and comes right back. Such was the case with 23-year-old Matt Moore, a blogger for the ultra-conservative newspaper, the Christian Post. His lengthy 2012 blog post "My Story: Homosexuality, Drunkenness, Grace and Redemption," told the story of how Christianity helped him leave his gay lifestyle -- at least until he got caught on Grindr in February.
3. The First Annual Ex-Gay Pride Rally, Awareness Month and Video Contest
2013 saw the birth of Voice of the Voiceless, a group of out-of-the-closet ex-gays whose mission is to encourage others to get back into the closet. Their first annual ex-gay pride month rally in Washington, D.C. promised thousands of attendees, but only managed to scrape together ten. Then they tried to do the "straightest" thing imaginable -- a video contest where they encouraged ex-gays to write, perform and choreograph their musical story. Their most successful event of 2013 was a dinner attended by sixty ex-gays. The dinner, which was held at an undisclosed location and closed to the press, was, ironically, intended to promote "awareness."
Read their Pride Announcement HERE
Read about the Music Video Contest HERE
Read about the Forgotten Rally HERE
Read about the "Awareness Month" Dinner HERE
2. NJ Governor Chris Christie Signs Conversion Therapy Ban
When the New Jersey state legislature passed a bill banning the practice of gay conversion or reparative therapy on minors in the state, most hard right wingers expected popular Republican Governor Chris Christie to do what he did with the state marriage equality bill in 2012: veto it. But 2016 GOP presidential hopeful Christie was all too happy to sign the measure into law, making New Jersey the second state to ban the practice. In a signing note that accompanied bill, Christie said that he believes people are born gay and that homosexuality is not a sin.
1. Exodus International (1976 - 2013)
On June 17, Alan Chambers, President of ex-gay ministry Exodus International, issued a formal apology to the LGBT community at large in which he said:
"It is strange to be someone who has both been hurt by the church's treatment of the LGBT community, and also to be someone who must apologize for being part of the very system of ignorance that perpetuated that hurt. Today it is as if I've just woken up to a greater sense of how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church."
Two days later on June 19, after 37 years of operation, Exodus International closed their doors forever.
