Love of God frees people from homosexuality: fact or fallacy

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-08 13:53

Can gay people be turned straight? Perhaps.

One of the ministries of the "ex-gay" movement, a controversial Christian campaign that encourages gay people to renounce their sexuality, Exodus International believes it can free Christian gay people from condemned gay behaviors through their love of Jesus Christ, though they may still be attracted to people of the same sex.

"I didn't choose my same-sex feelings but I do choose how I'm going to steward them," said Alan Chambers, the leader of Exodus International, an ex-gay and now a married father of two, "Freedom is possible."

Rounding up gay people in a secluded retreat, a typical Exodus camp delivers its redemption by encouraging gay people to attend a series of psychological therapy alike workshops, tracing back the underlying reasons turning people homosexual, overcoming the guilt feeling of being homosexual and delving into the connotations of true femininity/masculinity.

A living successful example of the practices of the “ex-gay” movement, Alan Chambers, however, doesn't reflect the whole picture of the results of ex-gay movement.

Peterson Toscano, who spent 17 years and 20,000 pounds in the US and UK trying to suppress his identity as a gay man, had a far less positive experience than Chambers.

"I became severely depressed and contemplated suicide on several occasions," he says.

Toscano believes Alan Chambers to be someone promoting celibacy by stealth instead of a living proof of being a changed man.

“You walk out on this cloud of ex-gay glory,” says Toscano, “but you end up intimate with no one, becoming more and more isolated until it's just you alone on this little ex-gay island ... so many people are hurting and living this half-life.”

Robert Cary, the director of a small-budget fictional film about an ex-gay ministry, confirms ex-gay leaders’ good will, but opposes their belief.

“Many genuinely believe that they are helping people to live good lives. But they believe that you're born with your religion and choose your sexuality, when that is the opposite of the truth,” says Cary.

Jeremy Marks, a pioneer of the gay correction programs in the UK, has arrived at the same conclusion after embracing ex-gay movement for ten year.

“The only ones who appeared to be doing well were those who accepted that they were gay and got on with their lives,” said Marks who is now openly gay and runs a support group for gay Christians

Marks also reveals the reason why Churches acquiesce, though has never officially sanctioned, the spread of ex-gay movement.

“Really, what the ex-gay movement is all about is salving the conscience of the Christian leaders who don't like to be accused of homophobia,” he says.