"Ex-Gay" group says thousands will be at rally in DC, 10 show up.

[Archae]

I'm reminded of that pro-war rally where I think there about 5 people.

Fewer Than Ten People Show Up For Ex-Gay Pride Event That Expected to Draw 'Thousands'

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 7/31/2013 4:30 pm

Yesterday, American Family Radio’s Sandy Rios spoke to Ex-Gay Pride Month organizer Christopher Doyle about today’s ex-gay lobby day on Capitol Hill. Doyle, who was organizing the since-canceled Ex-Gay Pride banquet at the Family Research Council, complained in an interview with the Christian Post that “un-American” LGBT rights advocates have “shut us out,” explaining that “because of all this homo-fascism and indoctrination in the media, ex-gays aren’t given a fair shake.” Rios confidently predicted that “thousands of ex-gays are descending” on Washington for a press conference planned for today at the Supreme Court. She lamented that when she led Concerned Women for America the media refused to hear “our ex-gay friends” because it “undermined the whole effort of the homosexual lobby.” Doyle told Rios that “tens of thousands” of ex-gays exist but are “in the closet because of fear, shame and threats from gay activists.” Well, despite the expectation that “thousands of ex-gays” would partake in Ex-Gay Pride Month, fewer than ten people showed up for the big event. Besides Doyle, ex-gay activists Greg Quinlan of Parents and Friends of Gays and Ex-Gays (PFOX), Michael Cohen of the International Healing Foundation and Douglas McIntyre of Homosexuals Anonymous also participated.







- See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/fewer-ten-people-show-ex-gay-pride-event-expected-draw-thousands#sthash.xaOnc2XL.dpuf

[William769]

1. And then theres this.

Former Therapist Claims Ex-Gay Therapy Worked for Hundreds

http://www.advocate.com/politics/2013/07/31/former-therapist-claims-ex-gay-therapy-worked-hundreds

[Archae]

8. Of course he's going to brag about his "successes."

[TeeYiYi]

52. Time for a little Will and Grace levity...

Also, about your headline:

Former Therapist Claims Ex-Gay Therapy Worked for Tens

There. Fixed it for ya.

TYY

[Heather MC]

78. Umm aren't ex-gays just boring heterosexuals, why would that label themselves ex-gays if they are now straight??????

[brooklynite]

2. Thought they cancelled this...

You know, because of all the "threats"

[William769]

3. I also want to add why the fuck do "Ex-Gays" need to be heard?

I want to know what is being violated about them.

[Rex]

9. Nothing, they are making a big stink over...what?

Dam if I know! They are ex-gay...so...nope, I got nothing. Until I hear about an ex-gay being dragged to death behind a pickup truck, I will reserve judgement as to what their true motivations are.

[DevonRex]

38. No. It's to remind the believers that you're "choosing" to be gay. Since

you could change, according to asshole quacks like this guy who are responsible for so much pain and even death.

[TeeYiYi]

4. Got bad news for the "ex-gay" in the bottom picture, far lefthand side...

It didn't work.

TYY

[Aerows]

20. She didn't show up

for post-lesbian fashion night, that's for certain.

[TeeYiYi]

37. Yeah, her closet's a dead giveaway...

TYY

[beveeheart]

34. I was thinking the same thing. n/t

[mainer]

59. Thought that was a guy!

d'oh.

[tallahasseedem]

70. I was thinking the exact same thing, LOL!

[SunSeeker]

5. And how many of those10 are "ex-gay"...

...as opposed to "friends and family of ex-gays"?

I don't think there is such a thing as "ex-gay."

[malaise]

6. Listen folks

Find a partner, get on with your lives and fuck off

[Rex]

10. I want to see that carved into a big wall somewhere in public!

SO many people could use that advice!

[malaise]

11. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahahha

[Rex]

13. .

[Aerows]

23. You rock, Rex

I just needed you to know that

[Rex]

25. No my friend, YOU ROCK!

This place would be so boring without posters like you and malaise.

I take it back, I want to see it carved into a Mount Rushmore type setting!

[Aerows]

26. Come on now

Malaise rocks way harder than me

[Rex]

27. I dunno, your post on 'the new place that will not be mentioned'

the other day gives you huge street cred in my book.

[Aerows]

29. LOL

I just post what I know, and let the chips fall where they may. I love DU. We have some fine people here.

[Rex]

31. We do indeed!

I figured that would make you laugh.

[malaise]

46. You both rock

[awoke_in_2003]

61. That would be a courthouse monument I could support. nt

[Jim Lane]

39. Maybe they should find more than one partner.

Then in a few years they can spearhead the "ex-polyamorous" movement.

[malaise]

47. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahaha

[zappaman]

7. !!!

[msanthrope]

12. Where are the porta-potties? (a shoutout to past freeper failures.)nt

[Aerows]

24. They got sucked into the

fashion black hole that hovered over the event.

[Boom Sound 416]

14. can someone educate me. What or who or whatever is an ex-gay?

they thought and now they thought not?

[jmowreader]

45. It's a very abusive thing

Some gays, for reasons too numerous to list here, are put through religious "therapy" (it's called reparative therapy by its purveyors, and I bet you didn't know gays even needed repaired) to attempt to turn them into heterosexuals. The derisive term is "praying away the gay." The theory is, after a gay person goes through this he will immediately cast off his gay garb, enroll in a Christian church, get a nice Christian job, settle down with a nice Christian girl and produce nineteen nice Christian children.(Looking at that paragraph...I'm hetero and the lifestyle just described doesn't look all that good to me...even if you could talk someone out of being gay, how could you talk them into this?) It's driven some of its victims to suicide, and that it doesn't work can be seen not only in the pictures above, but in this year's news: Exodus International, the biggest purveyor of this bullshit in the whole Jesus Industry, apologized to its victims and disbanded.

Fun fact: Marcus Bachmann, the husband of DU's favorite congresswoman (admit it: you'll miss her when she's gone), does reparative therapy for a living.

[Boom Sound 416]

57. In a word

Jesus!

And thanks.

[awoke_in_2003]

62. The therapy may be working...

just kidding.

[Nevernose]

15. I was going to make of them, but there's too much crazy

I was going to make of them, but there's too much crazy. It's one thing to get mad and make fun of the simple bigots of the world, Pat Robertson and his ilk. Getting angry at these lunatics would be like getting mad at the naked guy who lives in the vacant lot next door: it's annoying, but it's not his fault he's schizophrenic.

But there's so much crazy in this one post, it might break the Internet. I'm sure there's some kind of natural law being broken by trying to contain this much nuttiness, and it's a law that doesn't have anything to do with sex.

The delusions of grandeur, the paranoia, the persecution complex -- not to mention being "ex-gay" -- these guys need some series therapy, and I've got ten bucks says more than a couple need to be on some serious psychiatric meds.

[Marrah_G]

16. I feel so badly for people who are convinced they have to change

Whether it's their family or church or job...just the fact that they were bullied and shamed into hating themselves is incredibly sad.

[Rex]

17. +1

Brainwashing by any other name is still brainwashing.

[Archae]

19. This group only needed a light rinse.

[Aerows]

21. No shit

[Rex]

28. drumroll!

[Rob H.]

50. That's the way I look at it, too

Life's too short for anyone to feel as if they have to hide or deny who they really are. I hate those 'ex-gay therapy' places for all the damage they've done to people's psyches.

[opiate69]

18. This is pretty much how I expect that nutty-assed oath keepers "rally" to go too...

[mick063]

22. Looks like a Romney rally to me.

Anyone blocking the exits?

[Hekate]

30. I hope they had enough port-a-potties on hand!

[Cal Carpenter]

32. Equal Rights Whaaaa?

I really am curious what that sign is about. Or what they say it is about. I can't even think of what they could mean no matter how hard I try to turn my brain around.

Other than that, as much as I want to laugh about this, there is some real sadness to it. I am sure most of the people involved are just assholes with a political agenda based in prejudice, but some of these people really think they are ex-gay, and that is really fucked up for them. Thinking about that takes this out of the political and into the personal and it's just really sad.

I know a lot of gay people and many of them really struggle/struggled with simply being who they are and loving who they love and it is bad enough when you are at least honest with yourself. But these people are just lost. It's so, so sad, and I just hope they have some genuine unconditional love in their lives.

I'm not criticizing those who are making jokes, just to be clear, my first several reactions to this were snarky as hell and some of you (TYY!) made me LOL with your comments.

[RedCappedBandit]

36. +1

[AtheistCrusader]

48. To them, 'equal rights' means 'no special rights for gays' which actually means no equal rights for

same-sex/transgender/bi, all of the above, etc.

It's just cover to attack gay people. You see the same tactic with certain 'former atheists' employed by the religious right to attack atheists in the political and public arena. They think it gives them cover for their bigotry.

[joeybee12]

33. I see 2 women, 8 men...so there were 5 couples at the end...

The two women hooked up, the 8 guys formed pairs, and over candlelight dinners they talked about how much they have changed...changed so much they talked baout it later over drinks in their hotel rooms.

[matt819]

35. I'm perplexed

This is a joke, right?

Ex-Gays Demand To Be Heard: Excuse me? Ex-Gay. Let's assume that's doable. That would make them heterosexuals. I really don't see heterosexual suppression as a "thing," much less an issue.

Ex-Gays (Something) Equal Rights Now!: Once again, they are now self-identified as heterosexual. What rights are they demanding that other heterosexuals don't already have?

Support the Ex-Gay Community: Sorry folks, this doesn't seem like much of a community. Hell, there are millions of families with more people in them than this "group." Should we be asked to support those "family communities."

So this is some sort of spoof, right? I mean, how could they otherwise be so willing to appear so foolish in public. Well, unless they are republican politicians, for whom that seems to be a requirement.

Thanks for the laugh.

[Archae]

40. They are like so many other fundy groups.

They aren't satisfied living their own lives, they *DEMAND* the right to cram their beliefs on everyone.

And if you tell them to leave the rest of us the hell alone, it's "*PERSECUTION!!!*"

[olddots]

41. 3 pideons showed up for the Q & A

after Bob captivated the crowd with his pat Boone medley .

[Initech]

42. The ex-gay movement has been a complete, massive fail.

Excuse my editorial laugh...

[Zorra]

43. Well, good luck with that. nt

[JI7]

44. don't they know they need to schedule when liberal groups are gathering

so they can take pics of the huge crowds and claim it as their own

[xchrom]

49. !

[AndyA]

51. It's not a choice, people. There is no gay switch to turn on or off

The man and woman at the podium look rather cultish to me. Glad the event was such a success.

[bmbmd]

53. And then they left quietly

in pairs.

[randome]

55. LOL!

I was thinking almost the same thing! Except I envisioned them deciding to hold a meeting at an undisclosed location that would last for hours!

[riverbendviewgal]

54. LOL

K & R

[matthews]

56. Heavens sakes, Michelle Bachmann's husband didn't show for the show?I thought

this was his area of 'expertise'?

[marble falls]

58. "thousands" - that's Fox/Teabilly for five or six.

[RoccoR5955]

60. so if they are "ex-gay" does that mean that they are now sad? n/t

[LuvNewcastle]

63. If these "Christians" really want to help the world,

why don't they start an Ex-Asshole program? People could travel the country telling all the assholes that there really is hope for them; they don't have to be assholes forever. They could recount all the shitty things they did through the years and talk about what they've done to try and make up for it. That would be something the world could really use.

[shenmue]

65. I think you've got it!

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

73. Hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.............

Ex-asshole, now the numbers are potentially staggering for such a club. Good one!

[lunasun]

64. small group yes but still a silly train wreck you have to turn your head and look at .........

[Conium]

66. A Message from Aunt Sally

[AlBratt]

67. AFA Dark Side Tupelo, MS

Sandy Rios is AFA's favorite gal at their Home Office on the "Dark Side" of Tupelo, MS.
I dare say Elvis would roll over in his grave if he knew the Wildmon AFA Fundies had degraded the reputation of his Birthplace!

[sufrommich]

68. lol, hope they had enough porta potties

for that massive crowd.

[MrScorpio]

69. This reads so much like an Onion article nt

[bravenak]

71. They are lonely humans seeking significant others.

And they will find them there.

[Archae]

72. According to one of the organizers of this "rally," it was a "great day!"

http://www.voiceofthevoiceless.info/one-ex-gay-is-enough/

[MrModerate]

74. Lord love a duck . . .

Alternatively, "Oy veh."

[Beartracks]

75. "Ex-gay"? No, they're Born Again Heterosexuals!

======================

[jberryhill]

76. "thousands of ex-gays are descending"

[Turbineguy]

77. I don't get it.

I thought the whole idea about becoming ex-gay was so that people would never find out you were gay.

BTW is that a fabulous tie or what?

[Ilsa]

79. Yeah, I figure the other half dozen that

"successfully" finished "reparative therapy" were too embarrassed to show up.

[PorridgeGun]

80. Ha!

Seems like you're reaching the point over there where you can just laugh at these twits without having to worry that the drivel they spew will have a direct effect on policy. In most states, anyway. We call 'em "god botherers" over here.. always liked the term.

I worked as a lifeguard at summer camps in US run by an evangelical group (the Salvation Army) in my late teens and early 20's. Having seen the madness first hand, it can't have come too soon.

The SA isn't quite as bad as the really raging fundies, and they did do a lot of good, but I remember an attempted exorcism, someone calling me "of the devil" for playing Ozzy over the loudspeakers in the chapel (ok, I asked for that one..) and a group of nearly hysterical women bursting into a screening of poltergeist and physically standing between us and the screen to save our souls from the satan based propaganda we were watching.

Oddly enough they didn't find it very reassuring that the 5 or 6 of us in that darkened staff lounge were couples and paying far more attention to getting our hands under various articles of female clothing than we were the movie.

Effing fundies.. you can never please 'em!

[ctsnowman]

81. lol thanks for the post.

[Initech]

82. And $10 says there were more portable toilets than protestors.