WHAT IS THE EX-GAY MOVEMENT
Source: Calculated Compassion: How the Ex-Gay Movement Serves the Right's Attack on Democracy. A report from Political Research Associates, the Policy Institute of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and Equal Partners in Faith.
The ex-gay movement is an international network that claim gay men and lesbians can be "converted" to heterosexuality through submissions to Jesus Christ, or through secular "reparative therapy." Although, the ex-gay movement is firmly rooted in the predominately Protestant Christian Right, Right-wing Catholic ministries and secular organizations make important contributions to the movement and share its vision. Movement leaders assert that a gay man or lesbian can leave the gay life and become a "whole person again". - The person who existed before homosexual feelings appeared.
Ex-gay leaders hold positions that are ideologically consistent with the contemporary Christian Right. They uphold heterosexuality as God's creative intent for humanity, and consequently view homosexual expression as contrary to God's will. The ex-gay movement's philosophy is based implicity on a hierarchical structure in which God is a heterosexual male, and heterosexual men, created in the image of this God, are superior to women.
The most prominent organization in the movement is the Seattle-based Exodus International, an ex-gay referral network of ministries founded in 1976 that now claims more than 100 ministries in the US, Canada, and 20 other countries. Exodus states its primary purpose is "to proclaim that freedom from homosexuality is possible through the power of Jesus Christ." Exodus cites homosexual tendencies as one of the many social disorders ina world that has fallen from God's grace. Choosing to act on these tendencies through homosexual behavior, taking on a homosexual identity, and becoming involved in a homosexual "lifestyle" are considered destructive and sinful, because these actions distort God's intent for the individual. Exodus attracted media attention in 1978 when two of its founders, Gary Cooper and Michael Bussee, left the ministry after falling in love with each other. Together they went on the talk show circuit in the early 1990s to tell their story. Bussee and Cooper repeatedly called ex-gay ministries a fraud that promote homophobia and self-hatred. They told stories of people who went through the Exodus program and had emotional breakdowns or committed suicide. After interacting with hundreds of people, Busse and Cooper said they hadn't met one person who successfully changed their sexual orientation from gay to straight.
The premise that homosexuality is caused by early child-hood experiences is a common theme that runs through the ex-gay movement and is used by both the secular and religious arms of the movement.
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