may 2.2003 » Jw t — 1, 5
gm out
Q^em ember
JUSt
Portland prepares for Ju n e’s Love Won Out conference , do you feel “ ex-gay”
HHN I il; I As
ministries are a serious threat, or should they be ignored to avoid drawing
attention to their m essage?
hey are still a threat because of the vulner
able queer people who haven’t accepted
themselves yet who might fall prey to the ex-gay
movement’s misery-inducing garbage. It is also a
threat because the ex-gay movement’s spin on
this tries to put a legitimate and caring face on
harmful religious right bigotry. We should focus
on exposing this spin as hypocritical.
The spin is that they are not biased against
anyone but are rather just trying to help some
individuals who don’t like being queer and
want to be straight. But we know that if some
one came to them and said he or she wasn’t
happy being straight and wanted to become
gay, the ex-gay movement would refuse to help
this person because their religious agenda
wouldn’t allow for this. (Perhaps this would
make a good Michael Moore-style publicity
stunt when the conference comes to town.)
This proves the ex-gay movement’s hypocrisy
and proves they are fulfilling their own biases and
their own intolerant religious demands. This in
turn proves they are not really just trying to legit
imately help people in need.
T
P u t h e r in c o m f y c o t t o n s
fr o m
dren out o f the fellowship of his church.
Events like Love W on O ut rarely change
participants’ minds. Rather, it empowers
them to act— in this case, to act hatefully in
a loving manner. If the “ love the sinner,
hate the sin ” m an tra was applied as
venom ously toward divorce, dom estic abuse,
lying and hypocrisy by the love/hate co n
gregations as they are toward the G L B T
community, then this would be a much dif
ferent world.
W hat should we do? We should send our
pastors and church leaders to the conference to
ask real questions and start real discussions.
G L B T couples should silently and openly dis
play our love right outside the conference. Lov
ing churches should continue to accept, love
and guide all o f G o d ’s children. Ex-“ex-gays"
should share their testimony publicly with all
who will listen. G L B T Christians should come
out of the closet.
Our love for each other is an extension of
G od’s love for us. Eventually, love will win out.
C hristopher W ebster
T om S oppe
Portland
Portland
• • •
• • •
I
gnore? I think not. Ignoring does not stop
attention from happening.
Clear words about what is true for LG BT peo
ple makes more sense. The threat is for those of
us who, for whatever reason, feel unsure or vul
nerable about our lives. The ex-gay ministries are
predatory and have an agenda that is unclean.
Perhaps Just Out could do some writing and
examining and telling the true stories about
people who have decided they are not gay or
lesbian, what their lives are really like and their
experience. I believe a clear message about our
truths is the best way for others to see our truth.
I
n the broadest sense, ex-gay ministries are
not a serious threat, because they’re wrong,
and this will eventually become evident. But
they are a serious threat to the mental health
and well-being o f many sexual minority youth
and young adults. These ex-gay organizations
preach a message that can trap kids with con
servative religious backgrounds in years of self
doubt, even self-hatred.
I know whereof I speak, and I know it is
important to shine the light of truth on these
people. If only one person sees and finds a way
out, it will be worth it.
S tephen S impson
S usan D etroy
Portland
Eugene
9 9 9
• • •
F
ocus on the (Straigh t) Family has always
been a force to drive G o d ’s queer ch il
this time, which is described in another book
by Peter Wyden. (Both books still are listed for
sale on Amazon.com.) Is this why Sen. Wyden
refuses to reveal his stand on gay issues other
than AIDS?
Ignoring well-funded ex-gay religious cru
saders would be like ignoring Hitler. Christians
democratically elected Hitler and let him
slaughter Jews who were unable to pass as ex-
Jews. Hitler also executed gays.
Anti-gay religious groups have been paying
“university doctors” to get ex-gay “research"
papers published in professional medical and
science journals, just as Hitler did with the “sci
ence of eugenics.” These papers must not be
ignored, because they are being misused to give
ex-gay therapists the medical authority, in
addition to the religious authority, to modify
homosexual behavior.
Contrary to popular belief, ex-gay therapy
has not been banned by any medical organiza
tion. Doctors still are permitted to provide any
"ethical” ex-gay treatment, provided it is not
abusive or coercive. O f course, “ethical” ex-gay
therapy is almost impossible to provide, given it
is demeaning and abusive to most gay people.
I
believe we should not ignore ex-gay min
istries just like we would not ignore other
groups that threaten truth, freedom and equal
Ex-gays have a right to practice their reli
gious beliefs, but they do not have a right to
prescribe harmful and unethical ex-gay medical
treatments. They must he held accountable for
the harm they are causing other people.
T homas K raemer
Corvallis
Caught in the middle
To
the
E ditor :
\ \ 1 hether a teen-ager is a conformist in
V V dress, manner, acting and, most impor
tantly, thinking or is “different,” both come at
a cost. The “different” can experience social
and physical abuse, often death, as did the
young man just a few years ago in Wyoming.
The conformists and/or abusers unwittingly
start to bring about their own internal destruc
tion. It is no coincidence that so many of the
most virulent men and women also develop
serious drug, alcohol and emotional problems
down the line.
There is a vast difference between honestly
believing that nonstraight lifestyles are “against
ity. Rather than being a threat to gays and les
bians, responding to ex-gay ministries helps
expose their justification for intolerance
through junk science and ridiculous religious
posture.
Ex-gay ministries have a sustained and
unhealthy preoccupation with gays and les
bians, what types of commitments they have
and what type of sex they have. Gays and les
bians, on the other hand, have been a focused
and powerful ally for other groups o f people
who are victims o f racism, sexism, bigotry, mis
fortune and neglect.
It wouldn’t do to let ex-gay ministries go
unchallenged, just as it is shameful and wrong
to allow other issues of bigotry and injustice go
unchallenged.
Cbttor)
Vikt)
C A S U A L S
503 . 653.2255
22000 Willamette Drive
West Linn. O R 97068
F lo r a M . R a m ey
Portland
9 9 9
N
either— unless their message is hateful or
homophobic. Someone who lives as a gay
person and decides it’s not for him or her
should be treated no differently from the per
son who lives the heterosexual life, then real
izes he or she is gay. The “ex-gay” person can be
just as hateful as the “ex-straight” person.
Everyone should receive respect just as every
one should give respect.
M elissa S evern
503.335.7173
Lesbian Owned & Operated
J
Portland
n e X t m
Attorney
M ichael M osm an, the leading
candidate for a U .S . D istrict
Court seat in Portland , claim s
he doesn’t have anti-gay views.
Do you believe him? (Please see
related item on Page 7.)
Respond at www.justout.com .
(Don’t forget to include your
name, city and daytime
telephone number.)
G od," “immoral,” “damned,” etc. and saying
things deliberately to hurt, intimidate, haze,
harass and physically hurt someone.
1 absolutely never have seen or heard any
gay man, lesbian, transvestite or transsexual go
up to any straight people and harangue them
because they were straight. Other than the
occasional “drama” between certain “queens”
and certain types of “dykes,” I have not seen or
heard it done within the nonstraight commu
nity. Oh, there are little "tiffs” between lovers,
and I suppose not being able to rent a U-Haul
on a particular day might cause abject conster
nation in a budding lesbian relationship, but
these things are really nothing.
You would think that in difficult times peo
ple would pull together, hut what tends to hap
pen is "pack mentality.” What really is needed
is the very large group in the “middle” that
stands by and does nothing to stand up for what
is right. There is a famous quote: “For evil to
succeed, all that has to he done is for good peo
ple to stand by and do nothing.”
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Vancouver, Wash.
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