Posted by Dave on 06/28/07 at 03:04:39 pm
Categories: LGBTQ

Wow.

Take a look at the statement below from former leaders of Exodus, one of the premier "ex-gay" organizations [hat tip Christian Alliance for Progress].

Statement of Apology from Former Exodus Leaders:

As former leaders of ex-gay ministries, we apologize to those individuals and families who believed our message that there is something inherently wrong with being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Some who heard our message were compelled to try to change an integral part of themselves, bringing harm to themselves and their families. Although we acted in good faith, we have since witnessed the isolation, shame, fear, and loss of faith that this message creates. We apologize for our part in the message of broken truth we spoke on behalf of Exodus and other organizations.

This is pretty big, and pretty exciting, that these former leaders of the ex-gay movement are standing up and apologizing for their role in issues that have caused so much pain for queer individuals.

The individual statement from Exodus co-founder Michael Bussee is even stronger:

My name is Michael Bussee. I want to thank you for this opportunity to tell my story. Thirty years ago, I helped create EXODUS International. Today, I am here to apologize. Today, I am a licensed Marriage and Family therapist, a father, a born-again, evangelical Christian—and a proud gay man. But thirty years ago, I was not so proud.
...
In the midst of all of this, my own faith in the EXODUS movement was crumbling. No one was really becoming "ex-gay." Who were we fooling? As one current EXODUS leader admitted, we were just "Christians with homosexual tendencies who would rather not have those tendencies." By calling ourselves "ex-gay" we were lying to ourselves and to others. We were hurting people.
...
In spite of all of this, I consider myself a survivor. I am a happy, relatively well-adjusted, evangelical Christian, gay man. I am in a loving committed relationship with a great guy, my partner Richard, and I serve as an Elder in my local Presbyterian church. I love God and I love life.

And I have hope. I believe that we are making headway. Groups like EXODUS will go out of business when people no longer feel that they must deny who they really are, to attempt to become what they really are not.

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