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 Anti-Gay 'Love Won Out' Propagandists Offer False Hope Focus on the Family—Headed by James Dobson--Guilty |
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Compiled by GayToday
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--A national group of religious leaders responded
yesterday to the latest anti-gay "Love Won Out" conference, which was held this
past weekend in Philadelphia.
The conference is part of a series of events held around the nation sponsored by Focus on the Family, a conservative religious organization. The events are aimed at convincing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people, as well as their clergy, family and friends, that sexuality can and should be changed through reparative therapy and a conversion to Christianity. The National Religious Leadership Roundtable, which represents leaders from 40 faith-based traditions, denounced the anti-GLBT message being promoted by Focus on the Family. The Roundtable is convened by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and was founded with Equal Partners in Faith. "These discredited attempts to change sexual orientation are really only suppressing behavior, not changing the natural attractions that are in a persons heart," said Rev. Bob Gibeling, program executive of Lutherans Concerned and spokesman for the Roundtable. "Any ministry that uses fear, guilt and shame to try to change someone's sexual orientation is not only unethical, but is also putting themselves and their ministry in legal jeopardy because of the professional medical associations clear stand against it." "Many individuals in houses of worship, denominations, and religiously affiliated organizations throughout the United States, believe that gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals do not need to be repaired or saved from their sexual orientation or gender identity," the Roundtable said in a statement.
The assessment of the American Psychological Association is also held by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Medical Association. Yet, Focus on the Family continues to advance the harmful and demeaning message at their conferences that GLBT people need "treatment." Despite repudiation from virtually the entire psychological and medical community, Dr. Joseph Nicolosi, a speaker at the conferences and president of the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), tells parents to tell their kids that "homosexuality is really a psychological problem and that many of them, if they really work hard at it, can overcome their homosexuality, get married and have families. This is basically what we want to teach our kids." The National Religious Leadership Roundtable considers that ex-gay testimonies featured at the "Love One Out" conferences are "based not only on the misguided belief that everyone should be heterosexual, but also that everyone should belong to the same narrow religious view." These conferences deny the reality that a broad array of religious traditions throughout time and across the world embrace GLBT people and celebrate their unique sexuality as a divine gift. The National Religious Leadership Roundtable members are leaders of over 40 faith-based organizations including Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Mormon, Black church, and other religious and spiritual traditions. Together they work in partnership with other justice-seeking groups to: amplify the voice of pro-GLBT faith organizations in public discourse; promote understanding of and respect for GLBT people within society at large and in communities of faith; promote understanding and respect within GLBT communities for a variety of faith paths and for religious liberty; achieve commonly held goals that promote equality, spirituality and justice. Participants in the National Religious Leadership Roundtable include, in alphabetical order, Affirmation: Gay & Lesbian Mormons, Affirmation: United Methodists, Al-Fatiha Foundation, American Friends Service Committee, Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, Bretheren Mennonite Council, Christian Lesbians OUT, Christians for Justice Action, Dignity/USA, Disciples Justice Action Network, Ecumenical Catholic Church, Equal Partners in Faith, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Fellowship Tabernacle, Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples, Human Rights Campaign, Inner Light Unity Fellowship Church, Integrity, The Interfaith Alliance, The Interfaith Working Group, Interweave Continental. Other participants, continuing in alphabetical order, include Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, Kashi Ashram, Lutherans Concerned/North America, Methodist Federation for Social Action, More Light Presbyterians, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, New Ways Ministry, People For the American Way, Parents, Friends, and Families of Lesbians and Gays, Q Spirit, Reconciling Congregations of the United Methodist Church, Reconstructionist Jewish Federation, Sacramento Grove of the Oak, SDA Kinship International, Soulforce, Inc., That All May Freely Serve, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, Unitarian Universalist Association, UCCG, Woman Vision, Women's Alliance for Theology Ethics and Ritual, and the World Congress of GLB Jewish Organizations. |
