June 24, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Sexual Orientation Change Efforts
May 13, 2014
The following excerpt is from the article “Chatting with a leader of the ‘ex-gay’ movement about converting some to heterosexuality” by Tom Jackman on the Washington Post Website: … Tom Jackman: “So if SOCE is not ‘brainwashing’ or ‘praying away the gay,’ what is it?”
Christopher Doyle: “To understand what SOCE therapy is, you must first understand the meaning of sex. There are many different approaches to SOCE therapy, and the model I use at the International Healing Foundation is to: 1) Identify the root causes of the client’s SSA; 2) Resolve those issues with the client in therapy; and 3) Help the client receive unmet emotional needs from the same gender in non-sexual relationships with heterosexual friends. Often times, the issues that clients work through include painful trauma from the same gender (parent/peers) such as rejection, not feeling wanted, not fitting in, bullying, and feeling inferior because of their gender non-confirming behavior and interests. When clients work through those issues in therapy and experience acceptance and intimacy in non-sexual relationships with heterosexual friends (males with males/females with females), the desire for sex with the same gender gradually decreases as they begin to understand what they are really looking for, emotional connection with the same gender, not sex. Read the rest of this entry →
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June 24, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Ex-gay News, Religious Perspective
May 12, 2014
The following excerpts are from the blog “Faltering and Fruitfulness” on Andrew Comiskey’s website: “My friend Kin recently texted me to rejoice in the prosperity of his two children, now faithful husbands and fathers. ‘What if I had believed the lie that had been written over my life. O amazing God, how great are Your wonders….’ Kin referred to how Jesus’ death and resurrection set him free from what seemed like his destiny as a ‘gay man.’” …
“That is in sharp distinction to last week’s Newsweek’s article—‘Ex-Ex Gay Pride’-that featured John Paulk, ex-spouse of RHN director Anne and a former Exodus leader. The article frames John’s recent public return to homosexual practice (thus breaking his vows to wife and kids) as noble, a prophetic witness of the inevitable. John and others ‘testify’ of ‘living a lie’ by not being true to their real ‘gay selves’; they employ the language of abuse and self-loathing to describe a Christian culture in which they, in Paulk’s words, ‘did not change one iota.’”
“The only thing that has changed is a spiritual culture that now removes the Cross from the equation of how we become fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ.” …
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June 24, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Ex-gay News, Gay Politics
May 11, 2014
The following excerpts are from the post “Campus Climate Report: Virginia Universities and ‘Unsafe Zone’ for Students with Unwanted Same-sex Attractions” on the Voice of the Voiceless website: … “The report, which contains links to video and audio recordings, documents seven undercover visits to Virginia University LGBTQ Resource Centers made by two former homosexuals in September 2013, as well as evidence of discriminatory conduct from at least two universities towards Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), a national non-profit organization advocating for individuals with unwanted SSA and ex-gays. Click here (CCR2014-Final) to download the 86-page report.” Read the rest of this entry →
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June 24, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Gay Politics
May 11, 2014
The following excerpts come from the article “Therapy to change sexual orientation at center of debate in Maryland” by Kevin Rector on the The Baltimore Sun website: … “In the latest salvo aimed at Doyle and his practice, gay rights activists in Maryland say they hope to ban clinical therapy for children that is based on the notion that their sexual orientation can change. They hope to build on success banning the practice in other states, and success here in securing same-sex marriage and protections for transgender residents. … The debate played out in Annapolis in the recently concluded General Assembly session and is likely to become a top legislative priority for gay rights activists.” …
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June 24, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Gay Politics, Religious Perspective
May 9, 2014
The following excerpts are from the blog “Assessing Matthew Vines’ God and the Gay Christian Part III – Jesus and Homosexuality” on Joe Dallas’s website: “Did Jesus Say Anything About It? If So, What? I was glad, when reading Vine’s remarks about the Gospels, to see he declined the standard revisionist arguments we’re accustomed to hearing when it comes to Jesus and homosexuality. …. But he offers instead a curious argument for a pro-homosexual view of scripture, in which he confidently states: ‘Jesus test is simple. If something bears bad fruit, it cannot be a good tree. And if something bears good fruit, then it cannot be a bad tree.’ (p. 14)” …
“So good fruit can and does come from people who are wrong in critical areas, and bad fruit can likewise come from people whose lives are generally in line with sound doctrine. I’ll be the first to agree with Vines that many homosexuals bear good fruit in their lives, sometimes more than I’ve seen in many heterosexuals. I could say the same of people involved in other equally serious moral or doctrinal errors. But bad fruit – sin, for example, of any kind – cannot be justified by the fruit-bearer’s other good qualities. It’s got to be judged on its own, weighed against a higher and holier standard.” …
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June 19, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Ex-gay News, Gay Politics, Sexual Orientation Change Efforts
May 8, 2014
The following excerpts are from the article “As Many as Nine State Legislatures Have Now Rejected SOCE Therapy Bans” by Christopher Doyle on the Voice of the Voiceless website: …“We have been following this legislation for quite some time, and were involved in the defeat of bills in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, Minnesota, and Illinois. But recently, we learned that a few other states have quietly dismissed these measures as well, including Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island. Of course, the mainstream media won’t report this news; you’ll only hear about it on this website. …. In Hawaii, the bill was ‘deferred’ by the committee, ultimately causing it to die in this year’s session. … In Wisconsin, SB481 ‘failed to pass pursuant to Joint Senate Resolution 1.’ … Meanwhile, thanks to efforts from Equality And Justice For All, the bill in Pennsylvania has little chance of getting a hearing and out of committee, and in Ohio, a similar fate will likely befall SB 188. That leaves Massachusetts, Vermont, Florida, Washington, DC and New York,” …
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June 19, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Ex-gay News, Gay Politics
May 7, 2014
The following excerpts are from the article “Caught in the Obama-snare” by Andrew Comiskey in the PFOX Spring 2014 newsletter: A nation whose head cannot distinguish between ethnicity and sexual identity is in big trouble. Race is immutable and inspired by God; sexual identity variations (LGBTSQ, etc.) are man-made, elastic constructs designed to either work out inner conflicts or expand one’s sexual consumerism. To equate skin color and sexual identity is superficial, weak reasoning that is unjust to oppressed ethnicities and broken people searching for real love and identity. …
Obama’s hand is now obvious. He is doing everything in his power to ‘queer’ America. His reasoning rests on a fault-line. As the first black president, he is confusing race with the nuances of gender identity.
Not only does such a foolish equation trivialize racial discrimination, it declares the fragile, still-evolving ‘self’ of the man or woman who wants to experiment sexually with the same gender as an ironclad identity, rather than as a moral decision. It does not deal with the destructive results these decisions may have for self and others, (especially children) subject to these questionable ‘liberties.’ …
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June 19, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Gay Politics, Relationship Advice
May 5, 2014
The following excerpts are from the blog “Assessing Matthew Vines “God and the Gay Christian” Part II: Homosexuality and Leviticus” on Joe Dallas’s website: … “Today, let’s look at God and the Gay Christian‘s take on the Book of Leviticus, and consider its merit. – Abomination in Fact — ‘You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.’ (Lev. 18:22) ‘If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death.’ (Lev. 20:13)”
“A plain reading of these verses leads to an obvious conclusion: men ought not to sexually partner with other men. And a plain reading of these chapters in their entirety underscores that conclusion. Leviticus 18 is primarily about sexual practices forbidden to the Israelites and, in fact, forbidden to believers as well in the New Testament, Read the rest of this entry →
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June 19, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Ex-gay News
May 7, 2014
The following excerpts are from the post “He jests at scars who never felt a wound” by Gisele Roy on the Voice of the Voiceless website: … “Psychologists have long confirmed that bullies were often the victims of bullying themselves. We understand only too well that gays have borne the bulk of bullying, and we at Voice of the Voiceless (VoV) feel outrage every time we hear of anyone bashing gays. Yet, now that gays are finally being given protection under the law, they have turned their own anger from having been bullied and are now bullying, of all people, former homosexuals.”
“We at VoV love all homosexuals. Why? Everyone at VoV were or have children, family, or friends who are/were homosexuals. Why would we ever want anyone to hurt someone who experiences what we have experienced? Why would we want anyone to continue hurting our children? We decry anyone subjecting homosexuals to anything but love. We must, however, hold everyone, including gays, to the same level of tolerance, acceptance and respect for ex-gays. We at VoV also deserve the same level of respect afforded to everyone else.” …
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June 19, 2014
By: Tom Coy
Category: Ex-gay News, Gay Politics
May 7, 2014
The following excerpt is from the press release “What Exactly is Maryland Delegate Jon Cardin Hiding?” on the International Healing Institute website: “Bowie, MD — Today, International Healing Foundation (IHF), a non-profit therapeutic organization in Bowie, MD expressed disappointment in Maryland Delegate Jon Cardin’s lack of transparency with the public. In a March 27 letter in response to IHF’s allegations of defamation and misconduct in reference to HB 91, a bill that sought to take away the rights of minor clients to seek counseling for unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA), Delegate Cardin stated: “I welcome any investigations you or your lawyers wish to pursue,” yet when IHF submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for key documents that would reveal any illegal or improper conduct on the Delegate’s part, he refused to release them, citing Maryland “legislative privilege.” …
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