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School Survival > News >
De-gaying Camps
Something Important.Read. Tell All Your Friends
In late May in Bartlett, a small suburb of Memphis, Tennessee, a lone 16 year old boy wrestled with an important decision: should he tell his parents that he is gay? He ultimately decides that he should. The boy, an avid blogger, described his parents' reaction: "This didn't go over very well, and it ended with my dad crying, my mom tearing, and me not knowing what I'd done - or what to do."
His parents, however, knew exactly what they wanted to do. His mother informed him that he was going to be sent to Refuge, an "ex-gay" camp run by Love in Action International. According to Refuge, homosexuality is a "sinful lifestyle" and can be "healed" through religious - evangelical Christian - instruction.
The teenager found the rules and regulations of Refuge in his parents' email in box. To his horror, he found that many of the rules were harsh, bordering on child abuse: to cite one example, for the first three days in the program, a child may have absolutely no communication with anyone - no speaking, no hand gestures, not even eye contact.
His response to the rules in his blog captures the shock and fear of what would be done to him in the coming weeks: "I can't take this... no one can... not really, this kind of thing tears you apart emotionally. To introduce THIS subject... I'm not a suicidal person... really I'm not.. I think it's stupid - really. But.. I can't help it, no I'm not going to commit suicide, all I can think about is killing my mother and myself."
Refuge, run by Love in Action, is not the only "ex-gay" camp for teenagers in existence. These camps are spread out all over the nation. What goes on inside of them is a well-kept secret; we have only the testimonials of those who were sent to such camps and came out still sure of their identities.
A chilling quote from the Rev. John Smid, the director of Refuge, shows just how far his group is willing to go in their fight to "cure" teenagers of homosexuality: "I would rather you commit suicide than have you leave Love In Action wanting to return to the gay lifestyle. In a physical death you could still have a spiritual resurrection; whereas, returning to homosexuality you are yielding yourself to a spiritual death from which there is no recovery."
It is important to note that this is not expressly a gay rights issue. If an unwilling child was subjected to such conditions in order to force him or her to change some other element of his or her being - religion or politics, for example - it would be an equally clear example of psychological torture.
Many mental health and health professional groups have issued statements that not only rebuke the validity of "reparative therapy", but also statements that "Homosexuality is not a mental illness or disorder, and therefore cannot be treated." These organizations include: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Counseling Association, American Federation of Teachers, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, The Interfaith Alliance, National Association of Social Workers, National Education Association, and several others.
The American Academy of Pediatrics published a policy statement in 1993 entitled "Homosexuality and Adolescence" It was critical of any form of reparative therapy. They commented:
* Some adolescents are uncertain about their sexual orientation; for them, a "counseling or phychotherapeutic initiative" aimed at clarification might be useful. "Therapy directed specifically at changing sexual orientation is contraindicated, since it can provoke guilt and anxiety while having little or no potential for achieving changes in orientation."
*"The psychosocial problems of gay and lesbian adolescents are primarily the result of societal stigma, hostility, hatred and isolation."
*The statement mentioned that about 30% of "a surveyed group of gay and bisexual males have attempted suicide at least once."
There is much more information about these professional groups and their opposition to "reparative" or "conversion" therapy, and the underlying idea that ones sexual orientation can be changed. Some of this information can be found at: http://www.religioustolerance.... and:
http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/pub...
But one of the major legal issues here is; do parents have the right and legal authority to force an unwilling minor child into such programs? Especially ones that are unlicenced, unaccredited, and who's methods and "therapies" have been soundly rebuked by just about every professional health association in the country?
Is there anything being done to supervise these groups? To date, only the state of Utah has a law requiring certification of "reparative therapy" centers. However, Representative George Miller (D-California) recently introduced a bill - HR 1738 - that would provide $50 million in funding to states to support the licensing of residential child treatment programs, provide for federal criminal and civil penalties for the abuse of children in such programs, and expand federal authority to cover programs run by US citizens or organizations in foreign nations. This bill is a solid start to protecting children from abuse at such programs as Refuge and the hundreds like it nationwide.
Posted by: Idolize Hyde
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Posted in: News on June 23, 2005 @ 12:00 AM
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that's appalling. how is homosexuality "sinful," but THIS isn't? the kid's parents should be ashamed. they have NO RIGHT to do this to their son. he should try to escape. i mean, what's he got to lose?
p.s. after all the molested kids, CHRISTIANS shouldn't be telling others what's "sinful."
ok that's just disgusting.... man that poor kid...
and to that "minister" dude... he should be ashamed of himself. all he's doing is giving actual REAL, CARING christians a bad name. people like that make me sick.
i would be interested to read the kid's blog... any idea where to find it? where'd you find this article?
I was just thinking, why don't we write a petition or whatever you call it to end crap like this, maybe, at least the kids would have a choice to go there or not. It's time we got off our asses and protested something besides school.
hey soulriser, i found this on zenhex. one of the members posted it. i'll ask her where you can find the kid's blog and then i'll let you know. this thing made me so mad that i had to post it here so as many people as possible find out about it. shit like this needs to be stopped.
Shit thats horrible. i agree to start a petion and i'lltalk to all my friends to put this on there web sites. Im sorry to any person who ever had to do that un willingly
holy shit. i live in germantown(its another suburb of memphis) and i've never heard of this. does anyone know what happened to this kid afterwards?
I believe homosexuality is a mental disorder just like depression, phobias, child abuse, etc. Early in the 1970's, due to the "free love" movement, it was taken off the "official" list of mental disorders. I understand the parent's concern for their son and I believe counseling would be great for him. I also believe children should have a say in their treatment and I doubt any would choose a camp like this.
homosexuality is a mental abnormality, not a disorder. a disorder is something that has gone wrong, and inhibits the person in some way. gay people are still capable of leading healthy, happy livs, so they shouldn't be considered diseased.
Rebelnerd...I disagree. An abnormality would be something someone was born with that can't be changed by themselves. Homosexuality can be changed and has been changed by one's own choosing.
people don't "choose" to be gay. they can't help what sex they're attracted to, they're just born that way, or they become that way over time. if it was chosen, don't you think that with all the homophobia today, gays would just choose NOT to be gay? they can't, so it's not voluntary.
Rebelnerd...you've been listening to the news media too long. Sure they choose! I personally know of some who have been married "straight" and then became "gay". And, I know of some who were "gay" who became "straight" and are now married. In all the cases, it was a choice. None were "born" that way. And, in many cases, people who become "gay" were sexually abused as children. They were not "born" that way either. You don't have to agree with me, but, I believe it's a choice. If people are "born" with abnormal sexual preferences, then we need to let all rapist, pedophiles, peeping toms, etc. out of prison.
Being homosexual is not a choice. I'm a asexual bi romantic. I have never been sexual abused or anything remotely similar. My current crush is a girl. You don't "choose" to be gay. It just happenes. Do you consider stuff when you fall in love? And you can be both "straight" and "gay". News flash! It's called being bisexual. But that doesn't mean everyone to like both genders. Some are simply gay! Well let's be more objective and take a more relatable example. Is there anything you like to eat? Is there anything you hate to eat? But sometimes even when you hate it other people love it? Is it your choice to hate the thing? When you can't even choose what you love to eat how dare you ask anyone to chose their sexual orientation? It's not a choice. It simply is.
no offense greg, that's crazy. rapists and pedophiles are in jail because they actually harmed people. but most gays are not psycho criminals, so the fate of the sex offenders is an entirely different issue. it has nothing to do with gays.
Rebelnerd...believe what you want. I, respectfully, disagree.
ok, fine. you have a right to your own opinion. i just hope it doesn't cause you to unjustly discriminate against gays.
this still goes on. ten years after this article, ten years, this still happens.
there is a book out right now called The Miseducation of Cameron Post which is about a de-gaying camp and a girl's experience in it, and it is based on a true story, and it's been declared a banned book for "objectionable language" - we all know they don't have an objection to the language. they have an objection to everything else about the book.
these kinds of things are absolutely ridiculous.
I'm gay. it's not a choice.
for some people it is a choice. some people have the ability to be attracted to both genders but make the choice to date a certain one. some people's views and orientations change. people change. but inherently, homosexuality and bisexuality and every sexuality is not a choice. I didn't choose to be gay; that would be stupid. who would choose to be gay in a world like this, with so much intolerance, with things like this? no one. but so many of us are anyway. and we've got to fight to change injustices like this. we've got to fight to change this world.
this weekend was Pride and no one knows why. no one acknowledges the Stonewall Riots. we don't learn that in history. that's dirty. no one talks about that. six days of rioting, people hospitalized, people imprisoned, a fire in the Stonewall Inn. a minor revolution, all kept quiet, that was supposed to change things like this. but these things still haven't changed. Pride is a corporate event, making money off gay people. gay marriage is focused on as the biggest issue queer people have, when it is not.
I cannot possibly believe this.
I'm angry. I'm so, so angry.
and it doesn't even matter if sexuality is a choice. that implies that it's still a bad thing, an abnormality, a disease, and it's none of those things. it's a facet of personality, a facet of a human being.
it doesn't matter whether it's a choice, because even if I HAD chosen this, I still wouldn't want to suffer for it. as long as people have Greg up there's mentality then there will be no change. and I'm angry.