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'Lying About Love' by PFAWF |
| Compiled by Badpuppy's GayToday From HRC and PFAWF Reports
 Washington -- The Human Rights Campaign launched the Ray of Light Project
Thursday at a press conference at the National Press Club. This project will
highlight the abuses of so-called ex-gay ministries and compile the latest
research on the deleterious psychological effects of these ministries.
Thursday's press conference followed a press conference by the Family Research Council where a national television ad campaign featuring "ex-gays" was announced. "Scapegoating gay and lesbian Americans is not going to heal what ails the American family. What is going to help is the hard work of building a family that is based on trust and mutual respect," said HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch in her statement. "I call upon the Family Research Council and their allied organizations to consider redirecting their energies, talent, and money on an issue that does not put people in harm's way. Your pockets may be deep, but your messages are hollow," said Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)Executive Director, Joan M. Garry. "I entered the 'ex-gay' movement as a sixteen year Pentecostal who was afraid of going to hell. I quickly realized that this movement was dysfunctional and cured no one involved," said former ex-gay Matt Smith The Ray of Light Project will invite former ex-gays from around the nation to share their stories with the Human Rights Campaign and lift the veil of secrecy surrounding these ministries. The project will compile information by leading mental health and medical experts on the most recent studies available. This project is an extension of the in-depth Mission Impossible report released in August, and conducted by HRC Education Director Kim I. Mills. Mission Impossible chronicles the misinformation and deception perpetuated by religious political extremists about these ministries. Participants in Thursday's press conference were Elizabeth Birch; Candace Gingrich; Joan Garry; Caitlin Ryan MSW, ACSW and author of the book Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling; former ex-gays: Matt Smith, Stephen Smith, Tracey St. Pierre, and Brent Almond; Rev. Meg Riley, Equal Partners in Faith; and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (P-FLAG)representatives Neil and Sydney Besen. The Religious Right's ad campaign contradicts medical and mental health experts who say that homosexuality can not -- and should not -- be cured. In August 1997, the American Psychological Association overwhelmingly passed a resolution, at the APA convention, that asserts that there is no sound scientific evidence on the efficacy of "reparative therapy," which seeks to "cure" homosexuals. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. The Ray of Light Project
 The messages offered in the TV ad campaign announced today by religious
political extremists are nothing new. "Ex-gay" ministries and reparative
therapy have been around for decades. However, based on their alarmingly
high failure rates, they have traditionally been ignored by even the most
outspoken opponents of equality for gay men and lesbians. Unfortunately,
in today's highly charged political environment, the truth no longer seems
to matter. Their ads are a political device in a difficult election
season.
Earlier this year, James Dobson met with Republican Party leaders and threatened to bolt the Republican party and "take as many people with him" as he could if the leadership did not appease his extreme political objectives. Shortly after this meeting, America saw an unprecedented flurry of anti-gay rhetoric and legislation, at the expense of the business of the American people. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott compared gay people to kleptomaniacs and sex addicts. Led by Rep. Joel Hefley R-Colorado, who lives in Dobson's district, Republicans unsuccessfully tried to overturn President Clinton's executive order banning job discrimination in federal agencies, based on sexual orientation. A vote on James Hormel's nomination to be the Ambassador to Luxembourg was also blocked by a few Senators pandering to the Right, despite Hormel's impeccable credentials and impressive array of bipartisan endorsements. It was in this venomous atmosphere that it became fair game to prop up these failed "ex-gay" ministries for the sake of opportunistic political gain. At first glance, these ads appear threatening, a direct challenge to American families who have gained a new understanding and learned to accept their gay and lesbian sons and daughters over the past several years. But in embracing these so-called "ex-gay" ministries for the sake of political expediency, the Religious Right may have made a mistake. They have gambled much of their credibility by jumping on the so-called "ex-gay" bandwagon and it could prove to be very embarrassing in the long-run. All credentialed mental health and medical organizations will tell you that these ministries are harmful. The only consistent success rate they have had is consistently damaging lives by preying on the vulnerable. Each day, desperate parents and religious gay people place faith in these miracle "cures," only to eventually find that they were sold snake oil for the soul. The Ray of Light Project seeks to shine the spotlight on these ministries so people can see beyond the rhetoric and hear from the vast majority of people who have been through these ministries and now call their techniques psychological terrorism. This project will invite former ex-gays from around the nation to share their stories with the Human Rights Campaign and lift the veil of secrecy surrounding these ministries. The Ray of Light will:
Unfortunately, this project is necessary because these ministries refuse to take part in scientifically accepted studies to find out the efficacy of their work. They refuse to do so because the results would prove enormously embarrassing. This project is also necessary because the power brokers behind this advertising campaign are disingenuous and duplicitous when discussing their true intentions. For instance, Janet Folger, director of the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, said on a July 30th episode of Nightline that the ad campaign is "not really political." But in an August 13th New York Times story, Janet Folger contradicted herself and said that she ran the ad campaign because she wanted to "strike at the assumption that homosexuality is an immutable trait and that gay people therefore don't need protection under anti-discrimination laws." The Ray of Light Project also seeks to expose the dangerous methods used to "treat" gay people. For instance, famed reparative therapist Joe Nicolosi told Newsweek in the August 17th edition that he treats gay patients as young as three years old. Is it moral to introduce sexual content of this nature to three year olds? Incredibly, in their quest for political power, the Religious Right endorses and regularly cites the work of Dr. Nicolosi. People for the American Way Foundation Exposes: 'Lying About Love' Campaign Report Exposes Religious Right's Anti-Gay Tactics
 People For the American Way Foundation today denounced the Center for
Reclaiming America's new anti-gay TV ad campaign and released a
report, Anti-Gay Politics and the Religious Right, exposing the
Religious Right's anti-gay bigotry that lies just beneath the surface
of CRA's so-called "Truth in Love" campaign.
"If this campaign is about truth or love, then George Orwell must be its honorary chairman," said PFAWF President Carole Shields of CRA's disingenuously named ad campaign. "No matter how much the Religious Right tries to dress it up, bigotry is still bigotry."
Janet Folger, CRA's Director and creator of the so-called "Truth in Love" ad campaign, said on July 15, 1998, on ABC's Nightline that "I very much support" criminal penalties for homosexual contact. When Rev. Kennedy launched the Center for Reclaiming America in June of 1996, he wrote in a fundraising letter: "In this war for America's soul, Christians have defended their positions long enough. It is time to go on the offensive. It is time to win this war." CRA and its parent Coral Ridge are not alone in targeting gays for hatred and discrimination. Don Wildmon of the American Family Association, for example, warned his supporters, "Since homosexuals cannot reproduce, the only way for them to 'breed' is to RECRUIT! And who are their targets for recruitment? Children!" [emphasis in original]. Televangelist Pat Robertson has likened gays to Nazis. Focus on the Family's James Dobson has predicted that gays are going to oppress Christians. Anti-gay hatred is a staple of Religious Right organizations and figures. "The Religious Right's newfound rhetoric of 'love' is nothing more than a new label wrapped around the same old poison," said Shields. PFAWF's 10-page report: Anti-Gay Politics and the Religious Right available online: http://www.pfaw.org/issues/right/rtvw.antigay.shtml. |
The Rev. D. James Kennedy 