OPEN LETTER TO EX-GAY LEADERS

A number of American groups opposing the ex-gay movement have written an open letter expressing shock at the extreme turn that the US ex-gay movement has taken by participating in a recent ultra-homophobic Ugandan conference on homosexuality.

While the two sides of the “curing homosexuality” debate have always had their obvious differences, the Ugandan conference signals a dangerous shift for the ex-gay ministries, said the groups.

The ministries have traditionally projected a perspective of seeking to “help” homosexuals through various voluntary “loving” cures. Now, through participation in the conference, the movement is associating itself with radical anti-gay positions.

Open Letter to the Exodus International Board of Directors

Dated March 11th, 2009

We, the undersigned organizations, have monitored the ex-gay industry for more than a decade. To our great horror, prominent members of the ex-gay organization Exodus International participated last week in a conference in Uganda that promoted shocking abuses of basic human rights.

This included draconian measures against gay and lesbian people such as forced ex-gay therapy, life imprisonment for people convicted of homosexuality and the formation of an organization designed to “wipe out” gay practices in Uganda. The conference also featured Scott Lively, a holocaust revisionist who at the event also blamed the 1994 Rwandan genocide on gay people.

The facts incontrovertibly show that Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, was aware of the list of speakers and abhorrent content prior to the conference. Exodus board member Don Schmierer, who spoke in Uganda, made no objections to the radical and dangerous platform offered.

Instead, these mortal threats to the lives of gay and lesbian people were met with a deafening silence. Exodus, in effect, gave this insidious conference its tacit approval.

Today, we take the unprecedented step of joining together to demand that Exodus International’s Board of Directors take immediate action to hold accountable those who used the Exodus brand to promote an atmosphere conducive to serious human rights abuses. The accountability must begin with reasonable and responsible action by Board Chair Bob Ragan, including:

• Dismissing Exodus President Alan Chambers for his knowing role in using Exodus to promote human rights abuses

• Removing Board member Don Schmierer for speaking at a hate conference that promotes physical harm and psychological torture against GLBT people

• Boldly articulating Exodus’ policy against human rights abuses including forced therapy

• Promising to end future participation in all conferences that call on the persecution and criminalization of gay and lesbian people

We do not take this call to action lightly. These steps are necessary and commensurate with the massive breach of ethics and trust by the Exodus leadership. Clearly, Exodus has lost credibility and its claim to “love” gay people in the aftermath of Uganda seems duplicitous and insincere.

As long as Chambers and Schmierer remain at Exodus, the organization is hopelessly compromised and even complicit in grave human rights abuses. It is time for the Exodus Board, led by Bob Ragan, to assert its moral authority by appointing new leadership and taking the organization in a more humane and principled direction.

Sincerely,

Jim Burroway

Box Turtle Bulletin

David Roberts

Ex-Gay Watch

Wayne Besen

Truth Wins Out

Mike Airhart

Truth Wins Out