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Exodus Under Fire After Group Remains Silent As Speakers At Ugandan Event Seek To 'Wipe Out' Homosexuality And Imprison Gays
The three leading watchdog organizations that monitor "ex-gay" ministries today called on the largest such group, Exodus International, to fire its leader, Alan Chambers. The coalition charged in a letter to Bob Ragan, chair of the Exodus Board of Directors, that Chambers allowed the organization to be used and give credibility to a conference that promoted human rights abuses against gay and lesbian people.
We, the undersigned organizations, have monitored the ex-gay industry for more than a decade. To our great horror, prominent members of the ex-gay organization Exodus International participated last week in a conference in Uganda that promoted shocking abuses of basic human rights. This included draconian measures against gay and lesbian people such as forced ex-gay therapy, life imprisonment for people convicted of homosexuality and the formation of an organization designed to "wipe out" gay practices in Uganda. The conference also featured Scott Lively, a Holocaust revisionist who at the event also blamed the 1994 Rwandan genocide on gay people.
"Alan Chambers has shown a serious lack of leadership by allowing Exodus to become part of such a horrible event," said David Roberts, Editor of Ex-Gay Watch. "The participation of board member Don Schmierer in the Ugandan anti-gay conference undermines any credibility they may have had, and puts them right in the middle of serious human rights abuses. What on earth were they thinking?"
"I'm outraged that Don Schmierer used his position with Exodus to legitimize calls for further criminalizing and forced 'therapy' for gays and lesbians," said Jim Burroway, founder and editor of Box Turtle Bulletin. "Exodus' failure to speak out against the conference's recommendations and denounce the Holocaust revisionism of Scott Lively is inexcusable. Those who allowed this to happen must be held accountable."
"Exodus has turned a deaf ear to the violence committed against Ugandan sexual minorities," said Truth Wins Out's News Director, Mike Airhart. "Worse, it stood in public solidarity with those who are responsible for vigilante violence and state-sanctioned denial of freedom."
"Alan Chambers has consistently taken Exodus International in unsavory directions that have brought great shame on the organization," said Wayne Besen, Executive Director of Truth Wins Out. "Exodus' participation in the Ugandan conference only confirms that it is time he is removed from his position of leadership."
The coalition's letter went on to say:
The facts incontrovertibly show that Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, was aware of the list of speakers and abhorrent content prior to the conference. Exodus board member Don Schmierer, who spoke in Uganda, made no objections to the radical and dangerous platform offered. Instead, these mortal threats to the lives of gay and lesbian people were met with a deafening silence. Exodus, in effect, gave this insidious conference its tacit approval.
The coalition also called on Exodus to take the following steps:
Remove Board member Don Schmierer for speaking at a hate conference that promotes physical harm and psychological torture against GLBT people
Boldly articulate Exodus' policy against human rights abuses including forced therapy
Promise to end future participation in all conferences that call on the persecution and criminalization of gay and lesbian people
6 Comments:
Alan Chambers is a twisted fucked up self hating faggot. That is his issue. His. All to himself. He can deny it all he wants and it will still be there. His denial is what is spreading this poison. Alan Chambers is a disgrace.
posted by Spouse Walker, at
3/11/2009 6:19 PM
I agree, mail, but everyone who actually identifies as ex-gay is self-hating and fucked-up. That's what keeps this abomunation alive. Getting Chambers dismissed is not a bad idea, but I suspect most if not all of the leadership is cut from the same mold.
As far as I am concerned, this sort of shit (and that is just what it is) should be outlawed!
posted by Merlyn, at
3/11/2009 11:44 PM
True Merlyn. However we must continue to call them out on it whether they choose to process their feelings or not. Alan Chambers is feeding his own ego. That is what all this ex gay stuff is really about. It is nonsense, insanity, denial and destruction of ones essence. Alan Chambers is an immature child.
posted by Spouse Walker, at
3/12/2009 3:48 AM
So these bigots describe our sexual activity as "gay practices"? Exactly what do they mean by that? Isn't it rich, none of them address the problem of "straight practices" such as rape, incest, sex trafficking in Asia to the western hemisphere, prostitution, brothels, adultery. Truly amazing and truly bigotry of the first order. Just exactly what is their obsession with gay sexuality?
posted by Anonymous, at
3/12/2009 8:57 AM
Any sexual activity involving men and women is okay, and forgiven criminal or not. Woman on woman is okay too, because that makes great porn. Man on man is a threat and a "sin". I think I got it.
posted by TrevorHere, at
3/12/2009 9:46 AM
TrevorHere....I suspect the resistance and fear of man on man has a lot to do with the straight man's deeply rooted fear to experience physical sexual contact with someone of his own gender. I'm convinced that the number of gay or bisexual in society is far higher than we think and I am also convinced that the well adjusted straight male, and there aren't that many, would not react negatively to males having sex together let alone feel threatened or stigmatized. I strongly believe in the old addage that the ones who protest or obsess too much about our sexual orienation have a lot of unresolved sexual issues of their own. Deflecting them by homophobic behavior is I'm sure indicative. If you question them about it, you'll come up against a lot of defensiveness and denial. It takes precious little to provoke that kind of reaction, yet another indication of the sexual conflicts they are dealing with. Its sad that people have to live that way.
posted by Anonymous, at
3/12/2009 10:31 AM
