Tag Archives: Sexual orientation

Exodus’ Official Position on Reparative or Conversion Therapy

Posted on by
Reply

The California House recently passed a bill outlawing reparative therapy for youth under the age of 18. The Senate is set to vote in coming days. With the media abuzz, we have had numerous calls from news reporters across the country, asking for our opinion and position. Many others have simply mischaracterized Exodus International as a reparative therapy organization. One such instance was a newscast on an ABC affiliate  in San Francisco. The reporter stated that our “members now live heterosexual lives—many with spouses and kids—because of reparative therapy”. We have written this statement to clarify our ministry objective which highlights the mission of Exodus International.

 Exodus International supports an individual’s right to self-determine as they address their personal struggles related to faith, sexuality and sexual expression.  As an organization, we do not subscribe to therapies that make changing sexual orientation a main focus or goal. Our ministry’s objective is to equip the Church to become the primary place where people of faith seek support, refuge and discipleship as they make the decision to live according to Christian principles.

We believe in a “gospel-centric” view, meaning that all people, regardless of individual life struggles, can experience freedom over the power of sin through a daily relationship with Jesus Christ, a commitment to scripture, and by being a part of a vibrant, transparent and relational community of believers found in the local church.  Exodus is partnered with more than 260 churches and support-based ministries who serve individuals and families experiencing a conflict between their faith and sexuality.

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Fighting the Christian Right’s War Against Anti-Bullying Programs

Posted on by
Reply

The biggest bullies in the schoolyard may be certain Christian organizations on the right that expend a great deal of their time energy and fund-raising doing everything they can to make sure LGBT students don’t receive the protections of anti-bullying laws.

Their tactic is to encompass spreading information that many others see as outright lies, citing bogus statistics, and lobbying lawmakers in statehouses and the U.S. Capitol. They contend that anti-bullying legislation and programs single out gay students, according to experts EDGE interviewed.

So far, their strategy appears to be working, at least some of the time and in regions across the country.

While 49 states have anti-bullying laws on the books (Montana is the sole exception), only 14 and the District of Columbia specifically include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Wisconsin’s covers sexual orientation only.

Bullying has serious consequences for LGBT youth, who commit more than 30 percent of all reported teen suicides each year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to bullying, causes of such suicides include lack of acceptance, abandonment and hate crimes. Christian groups and others then use such statistics to “prove” the harmfulness of the “gay lifestyle.”

-more at Edge Boston

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Taiwan’s Gay Community: One In Five Have Attempted Suicide

Posted on by
Reply

Almost one fifth of Taiwan’s gay and lesbian population have attempted suicide, a new study claims. 

Taiwan may be considered relatively accepting of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) residents, but a new study suggests many in the community continue to feel heavily stigmatized.

A new survey co-sponsored by the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association of Taiwan found that 18 percent of the nation’s gay population has attempted suicide due to discrimination, while 30 percent have considered taking their own lives,according to the AFP.

Among the other surprising statistics found by researchers: 68 percent of 2,785 LGBT people said they felt pressured by family expectations that they will enter into heterosexual marriages, while 58 percent said they had been targets of verbal harassment, physical violence and sexual abuse. According to Focus Taiwan, other pressures result from negative media reporting of gay issues (57 percent), the public’s expectations regarding gender roles (49 percent), the expectations of older generations and company bosses (44 percent), and verbal and physical abuse (39 percent), the poll found.

Wang Ping of the Gender/Sexuality Rights Association criticized the nation’s Ministry of Education for failing to follow through with a decision to include gay issues in school curriculums. “Taiwan’s lack of education on homosexuality has led to the aforementioned results,” Wang told the Taipei Times. “To build a multicultural and equal society, gay-friendly education and legislation are very important, as fair treatment is not a privilege, but a basic human right.”

-More at Huffington Post

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta

Scans see ‘gay brain differences’

Posted on by
Reply

The brains of gay men and women look like those found in heterosexual people of the opposite sex, research suggests.

The Swedish study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, compared the size of the brain’s halves in 90 adults.

Gay men and heterosexual women had halves of a similar size, while the right side was bigger in lesbian women and heterosexual men.

A UK scientist said this was evidence sexual orientation was set in the womb.

Scientists have noticed for some time that homosexual people of both sexes have differences in certain cognitive abilities, suggesting there may be subtle differences in their brain structure.

This is the first time, however, that scientists have used brain scanners to try to look for the source of those differences.

A group of 90 healthy gay and heterosexual adults, men and women, were scanned by the Karolinska Institute scientists to measure the volume of both sides, or hemispheres, of their brain.

When these results were collected, it was found that lesbians and heterosexual men shared a particular “asymmetry” in their hemisphere size, while heterosexual women and gay men had no difference between the size of the different halves of their brain.

In other words, structurally, at least, the brains of gay men were more like heterosexual women, and gay women more like heterosexual men.

A further experiment found that in one particular area of the brain, the amygdala, there were other significant differences.

In heterosexual men and gay women, there were more nerve “connections” in the right side of the amygdala, compared with the left.

The reverse, with more neural connections in the left amygdala, was the case in homosexual men and heterosexual women.

The Karolinska team said that these differences could not be mainly explained by “learned” effects, but needed another mechanism to set them, either before or after birth.

via BBC NEWS 

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta