September 3, 2013

The following PFOX press release “Why Does the Ex-Gay Community Need Civil Rights?” has been reprinted in its entirety: September Awareness Month Fights Marginalization and Discrimination – September marks the First Annual Ex-Gay Awareness Month. Some casual observers might ask: “Why does the ex-gay community need civil rights?” Because in their quest for cultural dominance, gay activists have changed their strategy from seeking equality for the 3.9 percent of LGBT Americans to silencing any of the 96.1 percent who disagree with their agenda. This includes former homosexuals, whose voices are routinely marginalized, maligned, and minimized in the media and public sector.

“For decades, LGBT Americans were discriminated against and subject to violence and harassment, and that’s wrong. But now, these same activists who fought against prejudice are trying to take away the rights of individuals who desire to change from gay to straight, and that’s also wrong. Two wrongs don’t make a right,” commented Christopher Doyle, Co-Founder and President of Voice of the Voiceless, the only anti-defamation league for former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and their families.

In August alone, the ex-gay community has been the victim of a number of injustices by high-ranking officials. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law that outlaws therapy for children who wish to overcome unwanted same-sex attractions (SSA), some of whom developed SSA as the result of sexual abuse at the hands of homosexual predators. The Federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld California’s law banning therapy for minors who wish to go from gay to straight, despite statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing an increase in HIV infections by MSM (men who have sex with men) aged 13-24.

Gay activists carefully and patiently coordinated these attacks by: 1) Infiltrating powerful mental and medical health associations with the goal of destigmatizing homosexuality and portraying any SSA individual who seeks change as a victim of internalized “homophobia” and coercion from heterosexual parents; 2) Deliberately distorting research to make unfounded conclusions that people are “born gay” and therefore, those who seek sexual orientation change will ultimately fail, while dismissing 100 years of scientific evidence that shows change in sexual orientation is possible, and 3) Deceiving lawmakers with allegations of fictitious “conversion therapy torture camps” that were subsequently disproven, yet unreported to the general public by the mainstream media.

African-American Grammy award-winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin also suffered discrimination when Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray complied with requests by gay activists to drop him from a 50th Anniversary March on Washington celebration event because he is openly ex-gay. Ironically, the event was to commemorate the civil rights achievements championed by Dr. King, who could not possibly have ever imagined the day when African-Americans would bow down to the gay lobby.

“The demonization of ex-gays by gays themselves is a sad end to the long struggle for tolerance by the gay community,” commented former homosexual Greg Quinlan, Board Member for Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX). “That ex-gays are now oppressed by the same people who until recently were victimized themselves demonstrates a how low the gay rights movement has gone. The victims have now become politically powerful oppressors.”

This is why the ex-gay community has designated September as Ex-Gay Awareness Month in our nation’s schools. Former homosexuals are the last invisible minority group in America. Ex-Gay Awareness Month ensures the safety and inclusion of former homosexuals in all realms of society, and supports the ex-gay community’s equal access to all public venues. Ex-gays and their supporters should not have to be closeted for fear of other’s negative reactions or disapproval.
“Every person seeking positive life change needs the love and support of friends, family, their community, their school, their workplace, and their place of worship, and should have the right to let his/her voice be heard without threat of intimidation and discrimination,” said Regina Griggs, Executive Director of PFOX.