http://www.hrc.org/feature1/exex1.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON -- A coalition of organizations will answer an anti-gay
newspaper ad campaign, launched by several right-wing groups, with a
full-page ad in Wednesday's editions of USA Today. The coalition ad will
highlight a Minneapolis family who loves and supports their lesbian daughter
and it will counter the myths propagated by the religious right, according
to the Human Rights Campaign.
DARELL GINGRICH --NEWT AND CANDACE'S COUSIN -- AND OTHER FORMER EX-GAYS
SPEAK OUT AGAINST WHAT THEY CALL PSYCHOLOGICAL TERRORISM Former Ex-Gays
Refute Claims That Homosexuality Can Be Changed And Cite The Damaging
Effects Of Such Efforts WASHINGTON -- Newt and Candace Gingrich's cousin,
Darell Gingrich (twice removed), joined several other former
"ex-gays" today to help refute this weeks misleading Right Wing
misinformation newspaper ad campaign which claims gays can be changed
through therapy and religion.
"This right wing political ad campaign of misinformation and
pseudo-science is hurting many people and is nothing more than a slick
attempt to make discrimination against gay people safe and legal. They are
desperately trying to legitimize anti-gay discrimination," said HRC
communications director and senior strategist David M. Smith.
The Right's ad campaign contradicts medical and mental health experts who
say that homosexuality can not -- and should not -- be cured. In August
1997, the American Psychological Association overwhelmingly passed a
resolution, at the APA convention, that asserts that there is no sound
scientific evidence on the efficacy of "reparative therapy,"
which seeks to "cure" homosexuals. In 1973, the American Psychiatric
Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Earlier
this week, in response to these ads, the American Psychological Association
again questioned the efficacy of so-called "conversion therapy."
"For nearly three decades, it has been known that homosexuality
is not a mental illness. Medical and mental health professionals also now
know that sexual orientation is not a choice and cannot be altered. Groups
who try to change the sexual orientation of people through so-called
conversion therapy' are misguided and run the risk of causing a great deal
of psychological harm to those they say they are trying to help," said
American Psychological Association Executive Director Dr. Raymond Fowler.
"I am here to say that these ex-gay' ministries dont work. Even
though many of the people involved in these ministries might be well
intentioned, they are causing pain in the lives of those who would be better
off accepting how God created them," said former ex-gay' Darell Gingrich.
"For fifteen years I endured the mental torment of the ex-gay'
movement. I did everything they told me to do. I prayed. I spoke to church
counselors. They had me convinced I was going to hell. I finally realized
that the hell the ex-gay ministries spoke of was the life I was living by
pretending I was a heterosexual. These groups prey on those who are gay and
Christian and I really feel bad for those who are still caught in their web
of deceit," said HRC senior policy advocate and former ex-gay' Tracey
St. Pierre.
"I entered the ex-gay' movement as a sixteen year Pentecostal who was
afraid of going to hell. I quickly realized that this movement was
dysfunctional and cured no one involved," said former ex-gay Matt Smith.
"Make no mistake about it, these ads are politically motivated. It is
not a coincidence that these ads are running the same week that extremist
members in Congress have launched an unprecedented wave of anti-gay
legislation. From the Hefley and Riggs amendments, to the attack on hate
crimes legislation, the Far Right is orchestrating a highly organized
political campaign against gay Americans," said HRC political director
Winnie Stachelberg.
Shy David's House of Knowledge
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
Friday, July 17, 1998
---
Rev David Michael Rice
Mariner's Ministries, Dana Point
http://www.holysmoke.org/
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