Isn’t it amazing how people, when they go through the woodchipper known as the “ex-gay industry,” consistently go one of two directions? They either end up back out of the closet and hopefully living healthier lives than before [even if it takes years and years for them to heal from the experience], or they end up cashing in at the teat of the people who brainwashed them in the first place, thus perpetuating the cycle of abuse. They never just end up being “ex-gay” and settling into a happy “ex-gay” life. No, they have to engender hatred toward the rest of the LGBT community.
So here’s an example of the latter, by the name of Tim Wilkins, speaking on a panel encouraging North Carolina to write discrimination into its constitution. Brian at Right Wing Watch sets it up:
Wilkins began his remarks by describing how he is “ashamed” of his “past homosexuality.”
Wilkins in fact, is a professional “ex-gay” activist whose ministry “stems from his own freedom from homosexuality some thirty years ago.” He is also a member of NARTH, the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, and organizes a conference that “addresses such topics as If a Friend Says ‘I’m gay’, Debunking the ‘Gay Gene’, ‘What’s a Parent to Do?’, Untwisting ‘Gay Theology’, Counseling the Homosexual, Preventing Homosexuality, and A Biblical Bridge Out of Homosexuality.’”
Wilkins argued that homosexuality should be reduced to a “temptation” just as Pluto… was relegated from its status as a planet to dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union.
Oh, wow, this man must hate himself something fierce. Let’s watch the video together and I’ll live-blog it below:
First thirty seconds: “I once was gay but now am wingnut.” Amaaaaazing grace, etc.
0:30-1:00: Same sex marriages are “unequal” because two people of the same gender can’t possibly complement each other in a relationship, due to…
1:00-1:30: There are not enough various and sundry genitals in same-sex relationships, therefore they are not supporting diversity!
1:30-2:00: “I believe that same sex attraction is a temptation, not an orientation.” The fact that this conflicts with what every single mature adult scientist and mental health professional has to say on the matter is of no consequence, as that interferes with my being a wingnut.
2:00-2:30: The only real sexual orientation people have is sin. Dirty, dirty sin. If there was no sin, there would be no gayness, QED.
And to bring it home, 2:30 until the end: “Pluto… used to be a planet, a gay, gay planet, and then one day it went to Alan Chambers’ office and when it came out, it wasn’t a planet anymore! Pray away the gay planet!”
Sidenote: In trying to write this post, WordPress keeps replacing the name of the Not Planet with five asterisks, at least on my computer. Did we already pray away the Not Planet at Truth Wins Out, and thus cannot speak its name?