Local

Largest ‘ex-gay’ group shuts down

Leader of Exodus International apologizes to gays

Published

11 years ago

June 20, 2013

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Exodus International logo

Exodus International, the oldest and largest Christian ministry that claimed to have helped “cure” homosexuality for thousands of people through prayer and conversion therapy, announced on Tuesday that it is shutting down its operations.

The announcement came one day after its executive director, Alan Chambers, issued a written apology to the LGBT community acknowledging “the pain and hurt others have experienced” through failed attempts to convert from gay to straight.

Chambers’ announcement and apology also came about a year and a half after he startled leaders of the ex-gay movement by saying conversion therapy doesn’t work for more than 99 percent of the clients who undergo such therapy.

Experts from the nation’s leading, mainline mental health organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association, have long held that conversion therapy doesn’t work and is harmful to those who undergo it.

“Exodus is an institution in the conservative Christian world, but we’ve ceased to be a living, breathing organism,” Chambers said in a statement released on June 19. “For quite some time we’ve been imprisoned in a worldview that’s neither honoring toward our fellow human beings, nor biblical,” he said.

The statement, which was released during Exodus’s annual conference in Irvine, Calif., says the organization’s board voted unanimously to close its operations. It says local ex-gay ministries affiliated with Exodus throughout the country that have been autonomous would continue to operate, “but not under the name or umbrella of Exodus.”

Rev. Cindi Love, executive director of Soulforce, an LGBT supportive Christian organization that has long opposed the practice of conversion therapy, called the closing of Exodus International a positive development in the advancement of LGBT equality.

“I pray that Alan Chambers is truly remorseful about the damaged and lost lives as a result of Exodus interventions,” Love said in a statement. “Soulforce will never stop speaking up for our siblings who are vulnerable to the harm and spiritual violence caused by ‘ex-gay’ ministries,” she said.

“We are grateful for this development. God loves us exactly as we are – we need no repair,” she said. “Anyone who continues to try and ‘fix’ LGBT people makes a mockery of God’s love.”

Wayne Besen, founder and director of Truth Wins Out, an LGBT organization that has challenged the “ex-gay” movement, called the action by Chambers and other leaders of Exodus International a bold move and a “crippling blow” to the “ex-gay” movement.

“This will forever cast a looming shadow on the ‘ex-gay’ industry,” Besen told the Blade. “It cuts to the heart of their credibility. This will hang over their heads and diminish their false promises and their false hope that they’re selling to vulnerable and desperate people.”

Sharon Groves, director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion and Faith Program, called Exodus International’s decision to close its doors “a welcome first step” in addressing the harm she said Exodus has caused to LGBT people during the 37 years it has been in business in the U.S. and abroad.

“Now we need them to take the next step of leadership and persuade all other religious-based institutions that they got it wrong,” Groves said. “This is the right kind of reparative work that is left for them to do.”

In his written apology Chambers told of how up until recently he “conveniently” concealed his own “ongoing same-sex attractions” while continuing to advance Exodus International’s mission of helping people shed their homosexuality.

“Today, however, I accept these feelings as parts of my life that will likely always be there,” he said. “The days of feeling shame over being human in that way are long over, and I feel free simply accepting myself as my wife and family does,” indicating his plans to remain married to his wife Leslie.

“I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have experienced,” he said. “I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents,” he continued.

“I am sorry that there were times when I didn’t stand up to people publicly ‘on my side’ who called you names like sodomite – or worse,” Chambers said.

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Virginia

Man went on ‘homophobic rant’ inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags

Suspect arrested on charges of public intoxication, assaulting police officer

Published

5 hours ago

July 3, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Justin Wayne Hendricks was arrested in the case. (Photo courtesy of the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center)

The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a “homophobic rant” inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month.

“Last night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,” the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. “He then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,” the posting continues.

“Our manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,” the message says. “We want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response. We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,” the statement concludes.

Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being “drunk in public” and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer. A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

The spokesperson, Juan Vazquez, said Hendricks is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Online records for the Fairfax County General District Court show that Hendricks is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9.

“On Friday, June 28, around 9:28 p.m. the Vienna Police Department responded to reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers of the Hawk & Griffin,” a Vienna police statement says. “Upon the arrival of the officers the individual had already left the premises but was promptly located at an address nearby,” according to the statement.

The statement adds that Hendricks was subsequently charged with being drunk in public, providing false information about his identity to police, and assault on a police officer along with being served with the outstanding warrant related to the prior charge in Alexandria of failing to register as a sex offender.

Details of the prior sex offender charge couldn’t immediately be obtained from online court records. However, the online records show that Hendricks has at least a dozen or more prior arrests between 2014 and 2023 on charges including public intoxication, trespassing, and failing to register as a sex offender.

Police spokesperson Vazquez said it would be up to prosecutors with the office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney to determine if a subsequent hate crime related charge would be filed in the case.

Virginia

Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.

Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22

Published

1 day ago

July 2, 2024

Sean Koperek

Shi-Queeta-Lee at Arlington Pride in Arlington, Va., on June 29, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Activists across Virginia last month held a series of events to mark Pride Month.

Hampton Roads Pride, a volunteer-run organization founded in 1997, held 37 different Pride events throughout the region in June.

Their biggest event, PrideFest, which is part of their larger three day event, Pride Weekend, celebrated its 36th anniversary on June 22. Pride Weekend took place from June 21-23 and began with a block party at NorVa in Norfolk.

PrideFest took place at Town Point Park, and an estimated 30,000 people attended. More than 70 venders participated, while Todrick Hall and Mariah Counts are among those who performed.

Another PrideFest event with a DJ in the afternoon and live music at night took place in Virginia Beach on June 23. Congressman Bobby Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among those who attended Pride events in Suffolk on June 30.

Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, along with members of the Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Councils, also attended the Pride events in their respective cities. Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, also took part.

“You know people all throughout Pride Month, at all of our various events, tell me all kinds of stories about their own experiences and the past of this community … and some of our older folks especially, remember when we couldn’t have this,” Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.

“It was a great year,” he added. “It was a big achievement for us to have unique celebrations in each of our seven communities. Each of these cities is so different from one another, but to be able to create a Pride celebration that’s unique in each of those places was really great, and I think really well received by folks who may not have felt represented previously. We’re always trying to do better, to embrace every aspect of our community, and take a big step forward there this year.”

State Dels. Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) and Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington County) are among those who spoke at Arlington Pride that took place at Long Bridge Park on June 29. The Fredericksburg Pride march and festival took place the same day at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg.

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 10 hosted a Pride Month reception in Richmond.

Youngkin in previous years has hosted Pride Month receptions, even though Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups have criticized him for supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.

The Republican governor in March signed a bill that codified marriage equality in Virginia. Youngkin last month vetoed a measure that would have expanded the definition of bullying in the state.

Baltimore

Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist

Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.

Published

2 days ago

July 1, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Iya Dammons was honored last week in Baltimore. (Photo courtesy Iya Dammons)

Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.

A section of Baltimore’s 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.

The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.

A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women “navigating survival mode” living.

“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.

Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.

“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”