Call on Congress to Investigate "Ex-Gay" Programs

On June 6, 2005, a 16-year-old suburban Memphis, Tennessee, young man named Zach was forced against his will by his parents to enter a fundamentalist Christian-based program. Zach's parents forced him to enter the program after he disclosed to them that he is gay. The program, called "Refuge" and affliated with the Focus on the Family organization's "Love In Action" anti-gay ministry, is led by the Rev. John Smid. Smid identifies himself as an "ex-gay" person and has been quoted in the media as saying, "I would rather you commit suicide than have you leave Love In Action wanting to return to the gay lifestyle."





Before he entered Refuge, Zach wrote about his fears in his online blog at: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=7428306&Mytoken=20050604221047





Zach's story is only one of thousands. Young gays and lesbians are being forced to enter these religious-based programs where they are shamed and abused mentally and spiritually because some fundamentalist Christian groups believe erroneously that sexual orientation is a choice.





The reality is that sexual orientation is not a choice and such programs have been denounced by the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association (among others) as harmful and dangerous.





We, the undersigned, demand that Congress open investigations into the practices of the so-called "conversion" programs and their secular counterparts, "reparative therapy," that claim to change sexual orientation.





We demand that minors, like Zach and countless others compelled to endure such abuse, be given the right not to be forced into these harmful and damaging programs against their will.





We demand that stringent supervision of young people in such programs be required by outside agencies and that these agencies be required to conduct follow-up interviews and studies with the young people so that an accurate measurement of such programs' success - or lack thereof - be documented independently of the claims of success rates made by ex-gay groups.





Lastly, we demand minors who are sent to such programs against their will have the right to sue their parents for emancipation.