From Gay To Straight And Back
Click here for reuse options!Oh, I was a believer: Homosexuality was just WRONG. And I was Exhibit A, a self-declared convert who had managed to overcome my own shameful gay past. I even appeared on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1998, posing alongside my wife as a poster boy for “going straight.” And I was happy to do it: Those stories gave me a national platform to advocate for what is called “gay reparative therapy”—basically, convincing gay people that they were sexually “broken” and could be provided with a way to change. My wife Anne—herself an ex-lesbian—and our three sons were often put forward as evidence of how to accomplish this. Anne and I even wrote a book together preaching the gay-to-straight gospel, Love Won Out: How God’s Love Helped 2 People Leave Homosexuality and Find Each Other.
But I was in denial. It wasn’t in fact true, any of it. Worse than being wrong, it was harmful to many people—and caused me years of pain in my own life. Which is why I have this to say to the Rick Perrys of the world: You don’t understand this issue. At all.
Sure, I was gratified to hear that at an event this week, Perry appeared to regret his remarks comparing homosexuality to alcoholism. “I stepped right in it,” he admitted. But this wasn’t just some political mistake. What worries me more is the ignorance betrayed by Perry’s comments—an ignorance that I believe is still widespread among conservatives in the straight world—about what being gay means. The kind of ignorance revealed by those in Perry’s Texas Republican Party who recently inserted a plank in their party platform declaring homosexuality to be a “chosen behavior” and recognizing the “legitimacy and efficacy” of gay reparative therapy.
Copyright 2014 Liberaland
10 responses to From Gay To Straight And Back
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Tom Ward June 20th, 2014 at 11:52
“Which is why I have this to say to the Rick Perrys of the world: You don’t understand this issue. At all.”
Well said, lol.
Tom Ward June 20th, 2014 at 11:52
“Which is why I have this to say to the Rick Perrys of the world: You don’t understand this issue. At all.”
Well said, lol.
Dwendt44 June 20th, 2014 at 13:18
If Perry regrets anything, it’s getting caught saying it. He meant it, he just shouldn’t have said it out loud.
Judgeforyourself37 June 20th, 2014 at 20:12
However, it does show who he really is, a small minded bigot.
Dwendt44 June 20th, 2014 at 13:18
If Perry regrets anything, it’s getting caught saying it. He meant it, he just shouldn’t have said it out loud.
Judgeforyourself37 June 20th, 2014 at 20:12
However, it does show who he really is, a small minded bigot.
Bunya June 20th, 2014 at 13:49
Imagine the conservative god’s idea of a cruel joke, “I’m gonna create homosexuals and then make it a sin for one to express same sex love.” I’m certainly glad he’s not my God.
Judgeforyourself37 June 20th, 2014 at 20:11
The God who ‘hates someone who is LBG or T’ is not anyone’s God. That God does not exist, except in the warped minds of bigots. The God, the spirit, to whom I turn, loves and accepts everyone who tries to be good to others and treats others as they wish to be treated.
Bunya June 20th, 2014 at 13:49
Imagine the conservative god’s idea of a cruel joke, “I’m gonna create homosexuals and then make it a sin for one to express same sex love.” I’m certainly glad he’s not my God.
Judgeforyourself37 June 20th, 2014 at 20:11
The God who ‘hates someone who is LBG or T’ is not anyone’s God. That God does not exist, except in the warped minds of bigots. The God, the spirit, to whom I turn, loves and accepts everyone who tries to be good to others and treats others as they wish to be treated.