Exodus International

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Exodus International was the "largest Christian information service" of the ex-gay movement , which existed from 1976 to 2013.

The organization took the position that people are not born homosexual, but that the homosexual orientation arises from unconscious things like abuse or rejection in the earlier development of the person and was convinced that a change in sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual is possible. They believed that homosexuals could be healed through reparative therapy , prayers, and "by the transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ ."

Exodus International was founded in 1976 and was a non-denominational Christian organization, which in October 2008 - according to its own information - comprised "over 120 local ministries in the USA and Canada and over 150 ministries in 17 other countries". The Exodus “support system” for homosexuals consisted of a ward, a therapist, and a support group. Exodus offered annual conferences and lectures, among other things. The last president of Exodus was Alan Chambers . His predecessor in office was Andrew Comiskey . In June 2013, Alan Chambers announced the dissolution of the organization and apologized for the damage he had done to homosexual people.

criticism

Reparative therapy, like any therapy aimed at changing a patient's sexual orientation, has come under fire in recent years. There is no solid evidence that it is effective and most leading trade associations consider that it is potentially harmful, especially for young patients. An official position paper from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) states: “For the past four decades, 'reparative' therapists have failed to provide convincing evidence to support their approach to healing. In the absence of such evidence, the APA recommends ethical therapists not to attempt to change the sexual orientation of people and to take into account the medical principle of not harming the patient. "

Organizations that oppose reparative therapies include the National Association of Social Workers , the American Psychological Association , the American Psychiatric Association , the American Counseling Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics .

controversy

Exodus International first attracted major public attention in 1979 when Michael Bussee , one of the five founding members, left the group to move in with Gary Cooper, an Exodus volunteer who, like Bussee, had worked on the first Exodus conference that created Exodus Internationally. It was partly triggered by the story of a young man who mutilated himself after having sex with a stranger in order to atone for his guilt. Cooper and Bussee later entered into a civil partnership. Her story is one of the themes of the documentary One Nation Under God (1993) by Teodoro Maniaci and Francine Rzeznik.

Michael Bussee and two other former leading members of Exodus who joined the organization in 1990 and 2000 apologized in July 2007 for the damage they did.

Exodus initially claimed to have helped hundreds of men and women; however, there was never any independent evidence for this claim. To date, Exodus has not provided any information on what information this estimate was based on or how the success of the program was measured.

The Paulk affair

Exodus Internationalal's final and most damaging affair involved John Paulk , who had become the public face of a 1998 marketing campaign by the organization. Paulk became active in Focus on the Family and was elected chairman of the board of Exodus International North America. A former prostitute and drag queen, Paulk and his wife Anne (who describes himself as a former lesbian) were made famous as examples of ex-gay people for their work on Exodus. In the same year Paulk's personal life story (written with the participation of Tony Marco) was published under the title Not Afraid to Change by Winepress Publishing. In the book, Paulk describes his homosexual origins as a student at Ohio State University , his career as a prostitute, and his habits of lying - all things that should come to an end when he gave his life to Jesus Christ. The book was intended to be a testimony to Christian readers and leaders who saw it as evidence of Christ's power to change lives.

On September 19, 2000, on a lecture tour, Paulk was seen drinking and flirting in Mr. P's, a Washington gay bar. After posing as John Clint, a name he'd used in his Ohio days, someone contacted Wayne Besen , a member of the Human Rights Campaign , an organization serving the lesbian and gay community . When Besen appeared in the bar 40 minutes later and confronted "John Clint", he denied that he was actually John Paulk. He was photographed as a receipt when leaving the bar. When he was later confronted by Besen about the incident, Paulk admitted to having been to the bar but claimed not to have known it was a gay bar and only wanted to use the toilet. However, eyewitnesses reported that Paulk had stayed there for more than an hour, flirted with other men and, when asked about his sexual orientation, said he was gay (see Besen's book: Anything But Straight ).

Paulk was called to Focus on the Family headquarters and interviewed by James Dobson about the incident. At first, he is said to have reacted evasively, but ultimately admitted that he was in the bar to flirt. Paulk was then removed from his offices, initially temporarily, and later finally.

The incident aroused national interest in newspapers and news magazines, and raised questions about the program and choice of leadership in the organization. Paulk left the state with his family and moved to Oregon .

The end of Exodus

To date, Exodus has not had reliable statistics on therapy effectiveness, but the website did contain a number of statements, including one by former Executive Director Bob Davies .

Davies claimed that he is now comfortable with non-sexual friendships with straight men - especially those in the community. “All my life I have felt very insecure around other men. Same-sex affirmation made me feel like 'one of them'. This root of my homosexual desire is now cut off. "

After announcing the dissolution of the organization, its leader, Chambers, apologized for the suffering his organization had caused homosexual people; he did not want to admit his own sexual orientation:

"It's strange to be someone who has been harmed by the church's treatment of the LGBT community, but at the same time to be someone who has to apologize for being part of this ignorant system."

- Alan Chambers

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Who we are. Former website of Exodus International ( memento of October 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ COPP Position Statement on Therapies Focused on Attempts to Change Sexual Orientation (Reparative or Conversion Therapies). American Psychiatric Association, March 2000 ( December 29, 2006 memento on the Internet Archive ).
  3. ^ Just the Facts About Sexual Orientation & Youth: A Primer for Principals, Educators and School Personnel. American Psychological Association, 2008 (PDF, 259 kB).
  4. ↑ Michael Heussen: US organization "Exodus" relies on re-education - "You have to get a grip on being gay". ARD Weltspiegel on August 12, 2007 (tagesschau.de archive).
  5. ↑ Ex- “ex-gays” apologize for “bringing harm”. Gay.com, June 28, 2007 ( Memento of May 17, 2008 on the Internet Archive ).
  6. ↑ I am sorry. Alan Chambers on June 19, 2013 on the Exodus International website ( memento from June 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), quoted from: Largest ex-gay group in the world gives up. Queer.de, June 20, 2013.

literature

Web links