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 | This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies.(October 2017) |
Love Won Out was an ex-gay ministry launched in 1998 by Focus on the Family, an American conservative Christian organization. It was taken over by Exodus International in 2009 and then shut down at the same time Exodus International was disbanded, in 2013.
Love Won Out was launched by Focus on the Family in 1998. [1] [2] It was founded by John Paulk. Its website's stated purpose was "to exhort and equip Christian churches to respond in a Christ-like way to the issue of homosexuality." [3] The mission statement read, "To provide a Christ-centered, comprehensive conference which will enlighten, empower and equip families, church and youth leaders, educators, counselors, policy-makers, and the gay community on the truth about homosexuality and its impact on culture, family, and youth." [4] Love Won Out was sold to a former affiliate Exodus International as a downsizing measure of Focus on the Family. [5] In 2012, Exodus International also presented the conferences under the name True Story. On June 19, 2013, Exodus International President Alan Chambers announced the board of directors had voted unanimously to disband and close. [6] Alan Chambers offered an apology to the gay community and reversed his stance on the past teachings of Exodus International's ministry.
Love Won Out's stated objective was to help men and women "who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions", believing that "same-sex attractions can be overcome", [7] and asserting that "there are no conclusive studies supporting any specific biological or genetic cause for homosexuality". [8] It was the opinion of Love Won Out that "the foundation of society for the family is marriage of a man and a woman for life ... Scripture is very clear in its condemnation of homosexual conduct, for such sin is a deviation from God's creation and design." [4] The psychologist James Dobson adds that God loves the homosexual as much as any other person. [4] : 7
Love Won Out believed that the Bible regards homosexual conduct as sin. [4] : 7 James Dobson stated "The sin of homosexual behavior, like all sins, can be forgiven and healed by the grace revealed in the life and death of Christ. All sexual sin affects the human personality like no other sin, for sexual issues run deep in our character, and change is slow and uphill - but is possible nonetheless." [4] : 7
Love Won Out said that "The media and others have misrepresented male homosexuality as a pre-determined, biological condition", [4] and that "Contrary to the popular myth that homosexuality is genetic, same-sex attraction is a preventable and treatable condition". [4] The conferences focus on what it terms "the family dynamics that can lead to the development of same-sex desires", [4] stressing that homosexuality is abnormal, claiming, "The goal of gay activists is to 'overhaul' America with the message that homosexuality is normal and healthy." [4]
The conference addressed "the Pro-Gay Agenda in Your School", offering reference material and sample letters to educators and parents to have parental notification prior to class discussion of any issues surrounding sexuality. [4] : 22–24 Homosexuality being mentioned in schools non discrimination policy's, homosexual student clubs, programs to stop homophobia hate or bias, Pro-homosexual literature in school libraries, openly gay teachers, AIDS sex ed programs, outside gay friendly groups, recognition of gay pride month, exhibits or films on families headed by homosexuals, silencing students and parents who voiced concerns, and diversity workshops were discussed as determining the level of "Homosexual Promotion" in your school. [4] : 23
Love Won Out wanted to help people who want to understand factors that lead to homosexuality and assist those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions. They taught that the root cause of homosexuality is a gender-identity problem. [4] : 12 According to their belief, homosexuality in males is caused by a "dominant mother with a quiet, withdrawn, non expressive and/or hostile father, and an introverted, artistic, imaginative son." [4] They also believe that this is accompanied by poor communication between the mother and the father, and the son having a closer relationship with the mother and an antagonistic relationship with the father. [4] : 12–13
Love Won Out concurred with one position of the American Psychiatric Association when it states "some people believe that sexual orientation is innate and fixed; however, sexual orientation develops across a person's lifetime," though the APA also states, "All major professional mental health organizations have gone on record to affirm that homosexuality is not a mental disorder." [9]
Love Won Out claimed that the goal of the "gay agenda" is "Normalization through desensitization, Undermining parental moral authority, and equating homosexuality to heterosexuality." [4] : 19
James Dobson states in the forward of the conference guide:
There is no evidence that homosexuals as a class are discriminated against in the present society. They are not like African-Americans, Hispanics, or other historically disadvantaged groups, for their identity is based on changeable behavior ... [4] : 7
Love Won Out stated that "marriage will continue to be 'redefined'" and that Same-Sex Marriage may mean for our society: "possible threats to freedom of speech and religious liberty." [4] : 37 The conference made a point to "effectively argue for the benefits of traditional marriage to their friends, co-workers and legislators," [4] and says that gay marriage is not in the best interest of families and children. [4] The organization stated that same-sex marriage places adult desires above the best interest of our children, "same-sex marriage intentionally creates motherless or fatherless families." [4] : 37
Love Won Out held conferences multiple times a year throughout the United States; [10] as of October 2008, 52 conferences had been held. [11] The conferences said they "exist to help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome." [4] Conferences have counseling sessions, seminars on homosexuality and advice for families with gay or lesbian relatives. There were also group lectures, where participants hear "powerful stories of ex-gay men and women." [12] In addition, conferences challenged Christian churches to reach out to the gay community. [13]
Love Won Out collaborated with NARTH. On November 4, 2006, [14] Joseph Nicolosi represented NARTH at the Love Won Out Conference speaking on "Prevention of Male Homosexuality" and on "The Condition of Male Homosexuality". [12] Nicolosi, who died in 2017, was the president and principal research investigator for NARTH, and clinical director of the Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic in Encino, Calif., where he worked with persons suffering undesired same-sex attraction. [4] : 9
Exodus International bought the Love Won Out conference in 2009. [15] [16] Gary Schneeberger, Focus on the Family's vice president of media and public relations issued a statement stating "... the conferences rarely have recouped the financial investment made in them ... Our financial challenges (at Focus on the Family) have led us to recognize a strategic opportunity that makes sense ..." [15]
Exodus-affiliated groups had worked with homosexual persons, seeking to achieve "freedom from homosexuality" which Exodus believed included abstinence, lessening of same-sex attraction, and change of inappropriate gender roles. In June 2013, CEO Alan Chambers announced that the board of Exodus International voted unanimously to disband and close. [6] "The Board of Directors reached a decision after a year of dialogue and prayer about the organization's place in a changing culture." [6]
John Paulk, the founder of LWO, formally renounced [17] the organization in April 2013, saying (in part):
Today, I do not consider myself "ex-gay" and I no longer support or promote the movement. Please allow me to be clear: I do not believe that reparative therapy changes sexual orientation; in fact, it does great harm to many people.
I know that countless people were harmed by things I said and did in the past, Parents, families, and their loved ones were negatively impacted by the notion of reparative therapy and the message of change. I am truly, truly sorry for the pain I have caused.
From the bottom of my heart I wish I could take back my words and actions that caused anger, depression, guilt and hopelessness. In their place I want to extend love, hope, tenderness, joy and the truth that gay people are loved by God.
Today, I see LGBT people for who they are — beloved, cherished children of God. I offer my most sincere and heartfelt apology to men, women, and especially children and teens who felt unlovable, unworthy, shamed or thrown away by God or the church.
Alan Chambers, the CEO of Exodus International and parent company of the Love Won Out Conference, which had held recent conferences under the name True Story, formally apologized to the gay community in June 2013 for the damage done by reparative therapy, and ended the 37-year-old Exodus International ministry.
Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn't change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that there were times I didn't stand up to people publicly "on my side" who called you names like sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and mine. [18]
Truth Wins Out, an organization formed by Wayne Besen, is a leading critic of ex-gay ministries and of the Love Won Out conferences. Truth Wins Out often held protests and demonstrations outside the Love Won Out conferences to shed light on what they called "anti gay religious extremism." [19] [20] [21]
Truth Wins Out executive director Wayne Besen, who has been tracking and opposing "ex-gay" therapies for more than a decade, issued a statement Thursday morning [ when? ]:
"The closing of Exodus is an earthquake that is shaking the very foundations of the 'ex-gay' industry. We feel vindicated with our efforts to expose these groups and reveal their great destruction. Although new groups are vying to fill the vacuum, the passing of Exodus casts a huge shadow of doubt on their work and cuts right to the heart of their credibility," Besen said. [22] [23]
On February 22, 2003, Jeff Lutes, MS, LPC and Paul Dodd, Dmin, LPC in Austin, Texas launched the first Love Welcomes All conference. The name came from a Soulforce direct action that took place in Kansas City, Missouri in June 2002. The conference brought together concerned citizens, mental health professionals and clergy to stand against what they called "misinformation and damage caused by Dobson's conference." [24]
Soul Force released a statement on June 21, 2013, and a letter to Alan Chambers regarding the closure of Exodus International:
We welcome the closure of Exodus International and we recognize the potential personal and collective sacrifice this ending represents. At the same time, those of us who are called by Jesus Christ are accountable for the harm we bring into the world. Our purpose is to bring down the barriers between people in the Body of Christ, not create barriers. Ephesians 2:14. It is time for Exodus to take the next step in restorative justice and to practice the ministry of the Sermon on the Mount. We have some practical recommendations to share with you that will help the LGBT community worldwide as well as the Body of Christ in reconciling the past. We have included those in this letter. We invited people around the world to send us their suggestions and then consolidated those for your review. [25]
In October 2008, a "Love Came Out" conference was organized to coincide with a Love Won Out conference in Colorado Springs, featuring "gay speakers who participated in so-called reparative programs and now question such faith-based attempts to change one's sexual orientation." [11] [ need quotation to verify ] James Dobson responded "Regardless of what the media might say, Focus on the Family has no interest in promoting hatred toward homosexuals or anyone else. We also don't wish to deprive them of their basic constitutional rights. The Constitution applies to all of us." [26]
Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have been used to this end include forms of brain surgery, surgical or hormonal castration, aversive treatments such as electric shocks, nausea-inducing drugs, hypnosis, counseling, spiritual interventions, visualization, psychoanalysis, and arousal reconditioning.
Focus on the Family is a fundamentalist Protestant organization founded in 1977 in Southern California by James Dobson, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The group is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s. As of the 2017 tax filing year, Focus on the Family declared itself to be a church, "primarily to protect the confidentiality of our donors." Traditionally, entities considered churches have been ones that have regular worship services and congregants.
The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), which until 2014 was known as the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of people with same-sex attraction. NARTH was founded in 1992 by Joseph Nicolosi, Benjamin Kaufman, and Charles Socarides. Its headquarters were in Encino, California, at its Thomas Aquinas Psychological Clinic. NARTH has not been recognized by any major United States-based professional association.
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that encourage people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires and to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship. Beginning with the founding of Love In Action and Exodus International in the mid-1970s, the movement saw rapid growth in the 1980s and 1990s before declining in the 2000s.
John Paulk is an American activist who, from 1998 to 2003, was an advocate of the ex-gay movement and conversion therapy. In April 2013, Paulk disavowed his belief in gay reparative therapy and issued a formal apology for his role as an advocate of the movement.
Exodus International was a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian umbrella organization connecting organizations that sought to "help people who wished to limit their homosexual desires". Founded in 1976, Exodus International originally asserted that conversion therapy, the reorientation of same-sex attraction, was possible. In 2006, Exodus International had over 250 local ministries in the United States and Canada and over 150 ministries in 17 other countries. Although Exodus was formally an interdenominational Christian entity, it was most closely associated with Protestant and evangelical denominations.
Evergreen International, Inc. was a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization located in Salt Lake City, Utah whose stated mission was to assist "people who want to diminish same-sex attractions and overcome homosexual behavior". Evergreen supported the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Founded in 1989, Evergreen closed in 2014.
Ex-ex-gay people are those who formerly participated in the ex-gay movement in an attempt to change their sexual orientation to heterosexual, but who then later went on to publicly state they had a non-heterosexual sexual orientation.
Alan Manning Chambers is the former president of Exodus International and co-founder of Speak. Love., headquartered in Orlando, Florida. Before coming to Exodus, Chambers served on the pastoral team at Calvary Assembly of God, one of the largest churches in Orlando.
The Archives of Sexual Behavior is a peer-reviewed academic journal in sexology. It is the official publication of the International Academy of Sex Research.
Justin Lee is an American author, speaker, YouTuber, and LGBTQ Christian activist known for his focus on building bridges between groups who disagree.
All homosexual sexual activity is condemned as sinful by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its law of chastity, and the church teaches that God does not approve of same-sex marriage. Adherents who participate in same-sex sexual behavior may face church discipline. Members of the church who experience homosexual attractions, including those who self-identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual remain in good standing in the church if they abstain from same-sex marriage and any homosexual sexual activity or sexual relationships outside an opposite-sex marriage. However, all people, including those in same-sex relationships and marriages, are permitted to attend the weekly Sunday meetings.
Joe Dallas is a prominent figure in the ex-gay movement and an advocate of conversion therapy.
Albert Dean Byrd was a former president of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a research organization that advocates sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). He was a psychologist who focused on SOCE, and wrote on the topic. Although raised by a Buddhist mother and a Baptist father, Byrd converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was very active in the debate within the church on issues involving homosexuality.
Homosexuals Anonymous (HA) is an ex-gay group which practices conversion therapy and describes itself as "a fellowship of men and women, who through their common emotional experience, have chosen to help each other live in freedom from homosexuality." HA regards homosexual orientation as "sexual brokeness" that may be "healed" through faith in Jesus Christ. In common with other Christian fundamentalist groups, HA regards heterosexuality as "the universal creation-norm". This approach has been criticized for stressing that a person must renounce homosexuality to be a Christian, and because there is no valid scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.
"Pray the Gay Away?" is a 2011 episode of the American television series Our America with Lisa Ling. The episode, hosted by Ling, profiles several people as they seek to reconcile their homosexuality with their Christianity. It originally aired on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network on March 8, 2011.
Restored Hope Network is an ex-gay network of interdenominational Christian ministries and individuals. The network holds an annual conference in a different location in the United States each year that offers counseling and conversion therapy, and has speakers that offer advice for families with LGBT relatives and outreach to churches.
Because of its ban against same-sex sexual activity and same-sex marriage the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a long history of teaching that its adherents who are attracted to the same sex can and should attempt to alter their feelings through righteous striving and sexual orientation change efforts. Reparative therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual, or their gender identity from transgender to cisgender using psychological, physical, or spiritual interventions. There is no reliable evidence that such practices can alter sexual orientation or gender identity, and many medical institutions warn that conversion therapy is ineffective and potentially harmful.
This is a timeline of LGBT Mormon history in the 2010s, part of a series of timelines consisting of events, publications, and speeches about LGBTQ+ individuals, topics around sexual orientation and gender minorities, and the community of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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