Monday, May 26, 2008

Death or change -- a false choice

A couple commentaries for ex-gay ministries (strange that the only positive messages come from those with a vested interest in the ministries) say they went into the programs because they were faced with a limited choice: death or change. In this case, death is from suicide. Here is another commentary that points out those are not the only two choices. There are lots of gays who have come to terms with both their orientation and religion. But these ex-gay spokespeople have a stake in restricting the options to only death or change. Part of it is the effort it takes to stay ex-gay (these two don't say there was a change in orientation, only behavior), part of it is the mental anguish of realizing they've been living a lie, part of it is the way they make money off others in their programs. At least some of the effort behind the battle over gay rights -- the ultimate goal is the recriminalization of homosexuality -- is to enforce the choice between death and change. Tragically, when many gays in these programs find out that change doesn't work, they seek the only other option they see as available. A better death would be to the false choice of "death or change."

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