largest "gay conversion" Christian group to close.

[frigidmagi]

LATimes

The head of Exodus International -- billed as the world's largest "gay conversion" Christian group -- said it was time for the organization to shut down because of changing attitudes towards homosexuality.

"I believe we’ve come to a time in the church when it’s time to lay our weapons down," Alan Chambers said at an Irvine conference. "We fought the culture and we’ve lost. But I think we’ve lost for a good reason because it’s time for peace."

The Florida-based ministry announced it was closing its doors Wednesday night, a day after Chambers apologized in a statement to members of the gay community for "years of undue judgment by the organization and the Christian Church as a whole.”

Months ahead of the announcement that Exodus International would close, the controversial Christian ministry’s leader expressed doubts in the group’s mission.

In an interview published Wednesday by the Orlando Sentinel, journalist and TV host Lisa Ling discussed an upcoming "Our America With Lisa Ling" show on religion and homosexuality in which she interviews Chambers.

Ling told the Sentinel that Chambers concluded months ago that “if someone professes to love God, they will have a place in heaven. He said 99% of people cannot change sexual orientation.

Critics of the ministry, which for years boasted that homosexuals could find a righteous path in a heterosexual lifestyle, pointed to Chamber’s own admission that “99.9%” of the people the ministry, including himself, still have homosexual urges.

Chambers himself says he used to be gay until he found Exodus. He’s now married with two children.

Ling asked him if he was straight.

“He says he’s Alan, he’s a father and a great decorator,” she told the Sentinel.

Chambers hinted that while he is "in love" with his wife, he struggles with his sexual desires.

"Life has been incredibly difficult," he said during his opening speech Wednesday night at the ministry's conference in Irvine. "I’ve begged God so many times to let me be a decorator."

Chambers explained his and the ministry’s change of views this way:

“There have been people that we’ve hurt, there are horror stories, and I’m not telling you this for any other reason than to be honest and tell the true story about this ministry,” he said. “In 37 years we haven’t done everything right because we’re a bunch of humans. We’ve hurt people. We’ve helped people. But we’ve hurt people.”

Chambers then said it wasn’t enough to acknowledge the ministry’s missteps only to the congregation, so the church decided to talk with Ling and face the truth in a “really big way.”

In a statement on the church’s website, Chambers said a new ministry would rise in place of Exodus, one that would work with other churches to create "safe, welcoming and mutually transforming communities.”

He told the crowd gathered Wednesday night: "I long for the day when a gay or a lesbian kid feels like the first place, the best place to call or go for help is the church."

I have to congratulate Mr. Chambers for taking this step. While acceptance of homosexual is growing at a remarkable rate, he could have continued down this path for at least a decade causing more ruin and wreckage and bluntly making a good amount of money in the process from what I understand. Instead he chose to face the truth, which is hard to do and end it.

At the same time, I think it fair to wish that he had taken this step much sooner. Fewer people would have been hurt if he had.

[Josh]

Whelp that's it straight folks.

We had a pretty good run, but the end of days are upon us. We'd best start pairing off ASAP before the early adopters snag all the good ones.

I agree that it's a ballsy move. I'm not one of the ones he's apologizing to, so whether it's accepted or not is between him and them. But it's not ass-covering to straight up admit that this shit has fucked up people's lives, so I can respect his guts there.

[Norseman]

Is it very wrong that this reminds me of this:
[youtube][/youtube]

But on a more serious note I'm glad that they've stopped trying to do this stuff. No matter what you think of homosexuality it's not something you can change. Now if transsexuals also get the legal right to change their gender we may be getting somewhere.

[B4UTRUST]

Now if transsexuals also get the legal right to change their gender we may be getting somewhere.

They can, at least in some states. Depending on state one can have ones gender changed on licenses and birth certificates. Usually this is done at the time of legal name change to reflect the new identity. Some states choose to accept the amended birth certificates, others do not, which is why in general a court order stating the legal gender change and name changed is the preferred method. This has created interesting loopholes and problems in some states with regards to marriage. For instance, two friends of mine in Florida are affected by this. Florida does not officially or legally recognize same sex marriages or unions. My friend Crystal has a very happy marriage with her wife Maya. I knew Maya before when she was still Michael. Due to Florida's backwards thinking of the matter Maya is still male, so despite having sexual reassignment surgery and living full time as a female, she can legally marry a woman, thus her and Crystal's marriage.

Texas, Arkansas and Illinois have all had cases in fairly recent history that I can recall where marriages were denied based on birth gender. Then, over on the east coast, New Jersey and North Carolina have both approved marriages based on amended birth certificate genders.

But back to the original point, transgender laws and rights seem to vary greatly by state but really should be addressed at a national level. However, getting anyone to pay anything more than lip service to transgender rights coalitions and groups is rather difficult as several friends of mine found out last week in DC. I'm told by them that it's about what they expected and what they had gotten in years past. But legally changing gender can be done on birth certificates, passports, IDs, even with the social security administration. You just have to live in a state where the people running it aren't complete sexual luddites.