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Compassionate Bigotry
Kinder, gentler discrimination revealed
at the Love Won Out conference
by Jaymee R. Cuti
Homosexuals can he nice people.
They can form loving relationships
and he good parents.
Gays and lesbians should he treated
with respect and dignity.
message from Anne, announcing that she’d fallen in
love with a woman named Ellen.
Another surprising admission came from
lecturer Bill Maier, a Focus on the Family radio pro
gram host. He said the church had fallen short on
condemning anti-gay violence and speaking out
hese were “givens" 1 had not expected to
often against hate crimes.
hear when I registered for Focus on the
But this method of kinder, gentler bigotry failed
Family’s Love Won Out conference
to convey acceptance of gay and lesbian people.
Aug. 4 at City Bible Church in Northeast
Never did the message stray far from the warning
Portland. The Colorado-based organiza that homosexuals would experience pain and
tion has a reputation for praying the gay away suffering
and
because they defied God.
converting queers to a Christian and, most impor
Perhaps you can’t spot a gay by his or her hair
tantly, hetero life.
style, but laps around the sanctuary and lingering
I paid the $60 and registered under a slight vari at the coffee cart revealed that many of the 150
ation of my name. With all the attention 1 put into conference attendees were churchgoing married
dressing inconspicuously, 1 thought I’d blow my cov couples ranging in age from 30s to 60s. It was my
er as the press or, at the very least, a nonbeliever,
highest hope that few gays were in the pews, hear
when the bag search revealed my camera and Harry
ing the message that self-denial could lead them to
Potter novel.
a fulfilling, hetero life.
“I won’t tell you how it ends,” said the volun
After a group session, the conference broke into
teer to my relief.
workshops. Topics included “Someone I Love Is
But the warm smiles that delivered welcomes
Gay,” “Hope for Those Who Struggle” and “The
were soon countered by another slate of “givens”
Pro-Gay Agenda in Schools.”
with a judgmental tone.
1 high-tailed it to a popular workshop, “Straight
Thinking on Gay Marriage," led by Maier. Filled
God does not make people gay.
with approximately 50 people in the church's
The gay gene is a myth.
chapel, this was the only workshop repeated in the
Homosexuals are working to show
morning and afternixin.
every institution—education, the media,
It also served as a reunion of sorts for those
business, government—that they are normal.
who had protested House Bill 2007, the domestic
partnership law, in Salem three months ago.
That last one might be true.
Before the program began, old buddies updated
The daylong conference was couched in
each other on their signature-gathering efforts to
messages of kindness. A woman, later revealed to
refer the law to the 2008 ballot.
be the mother of hasbian Anne Heche, shared
In a pseudo-academic presentation, listeners
a personal story about forgiving her deceitful
learned how same-sex marriage threatened their
husband who died of AIDS. He had been leading
families. Maier enlightened the crowd about
a double life as a gay man. I learned that she desired
polyamory. He presented a Netherlandic study
to be more like the forgiving father in The Prodigal
where married gay men admitted to eight
Son. Nancy Heche prayed that God would heal her
extramarital sexual contacts in an 18-month
heart that broke when she received the phone
period-
T
JAYMEE R CUTI
(503)643-7325
Feng Shui Creation
northwest
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More than 100 people attended the Love Won Out "ex-gay" conference at City Bible Church.