History

Psychology

1. Payne believes that emotional wounding can occur in utero. Whether wounding occurs pre-birth, during childhood or adulthood, "healing prayer" will bring the event to mind. Personal and corporate prayer can then be directed to that event. Wounding creates a personal brokenness that makes us unable to achieve appropriate gender identity and prevents us from having appropriate relationships with other people. Counseling and prayer work together to, heal the homosexual's "Broken Image."
2. Homosexuality is an "irrational, powerful, and immoral compulsion". Nobody is an homosexual, nor is it part of a person's identity. It is merely a series of compulsions brought about by woundedness.
3. Emotional Cannibalism-- A physically weak cannibal only eats the flesh of a physically strong person in order to get hold of that person's strength. The situation for the homosexual man is similar: homosexual men lack masculinity and that is why they want to have sex with other men. They want to "consume the flesh" of other males in order to get hold of their masculine traits in order to obtain the masculinity he lacks for himself. But how can a homosexual man - a man who lacks masculinity, be happy with and receive any masculinity from a man who himself is homosexual and therefore lacks masculinity?
4. Payne recommends prayers that are full of imagery and metaphors. The prayers are to focus on the memories. For, it is less the homosexual her/himself that has to be healed, than the memories of the homosexual that must be healed. It is the memories that are broken. The sickness lies in the memories.
5. In the situation of healing and prayer is that Jesus Christ, who is eternal and unchained by time, goes back in time with the homosexual to the very moment, when something went wrong.
6. A girl does not get confused and does not mix up emotional needs with sexual needs as a boy does. A girl reacts with hatred. At the beginning she hates the single perpetrator (for example the father). But after a while this hatred gets generalized and is directed against every man. This hatred makes it impossible for her to be attracted to men, and as a result she becomes a lesbian.

6. Consistent testimony by a sub-group of ex-gays--The belief that they were "trapped in the lifestyle." Personal or vicarious

1. Change of orientation-most ex-gays do not believe sexual orientation is easy to change. Some organizations, such as Courage, do not even attempt to change sexual orientation, they simply act as a support group to promote celibacy. Many ex-gays believe that change is possible, but that it is very difficult and represents a complete change. Other ex­gays, typically "newbies" believe media myths about change and hope for miraculous cures or other quick fixes. Most ex-gays expect support for their choice to live celibate lives or a reduction in their same-gender attractions, not necessarily an increase in opposite-gender attractions or heterosexual marriage, though that is sometimes the goal.
2. Ex-gays do not necessarily believe that gay people cannot be Christians. Most believe that homosexual behavior is sin and that gay marriage is not God's intent for marriage. There is internal debate within the ex-gay movement on whether or not gays who "act out" can be saved. Regardless of salvation, they persist in believing that the gay who acts out does so outside of the Will of God and is not acting in his/her best interests, both socially and emotionally.

Politics and Policies

1. Secular therapy-NARTH, HA
2. Ex-gay ministries-Exodus, Desert Streams, Living Waters, TCM, Coral Ridge, etc
3. Advocacy Groups-FRC, P-FOX, American Family Association, Focus on the Family
4. Pastoral support-non organized/affiliated counseling by individual pastors, lay leaders, etc.

1. Most ministries make it clear in their mission statements that they do not engage in politics or lobbying 1. The Exodus Mission Statement: "Exodus is a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian organization promoting the message of `Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ."'
2. Prior to 1998 there was a fairly clear distinction between ministry groups and activist groups.
   1. The Christian Coalition and others sponsored the full-page ads in July of 1998 to highlight the ex-gay movement: The ads were labeled as "Truth in Love." Shortly after, Focus on the Family started their "Love in Action" campaign, a nationwide "tour" in which the FotF gender-staffers (and others) spoke about homosexuality and provided ministry to ex-gays and those "struggling with homosexuality".
   2. This agreement between ministry and advocates was believed to be beneficial to both. The ministries would gain a way to publicize their message to people who otherwise might not know they existed, since they tended to be a very low-profile organization. The advocate groups benefited by establishing the existence of a "loving" option to their traditionally perceived face as "hateful" and "bigoted" towards homosexuals. Not only were they befriending ex-gays who were themselves, technically, gays and lesbians, but they were offering a practical solution to the political problem of growing cultural acceptance of homosexuality, since the message was a loving option of "freedom from" this sinful and destructive lifestyle.
3. There was an immediate and severe backlash against the ex-gay movement by the gay community. The newly perceived image of the ex-gay community was that they had allied themselves with the political anti-gay movement that has always posed a severe threat to our community.

Responding to Ex-Gays

1. Many people in the gay community see the ex-gay movement as a threat. In answering this question, it is imperative to separate the ex-gay ministries proper from the Political Religious Right (PRR). The ministries themselves might share in the political beliefs of the PM but they tend not to lobby nor do they tend to be politically active as groups.
2. Beyond this, however, there remains the question of whether the ex-gay movement is a threat to the GLBT community. There is ample testimony from ex-ex-gays that show the damaging effects of ex-gay therapy (see the HRC's booklet, Finally Free). Similarly, all of the Professional Mental Health organizations have affirmed the position that homosexuality is not a pathology and that ex-gay therapy has the ,potential to damage those who.pursue that path.
3. If we assume that ex-gays themselves are not a political threat, but are a potential psychological threat, we need to focus our dialogue with ex-gays on that issue and not accuse them of political attacks.
4. Our goal, then, is to find a compromise between protecting our own community and protecting the freedom of expression of religion. Regardless of how we might judge the ex-gay for wanting to pursue that path, it remains his prerogative to do so and to prevent him/her from doing so diminishes all of our rights. We as members of the gay community have been fighting for our right to live our sexual lives as we choose and to prevent the ex-gay from following his/her conscience becomes an act of hypocrisy on our part.
5. Valuing diversity means valuing ex-gays as well, regardless of how we feel about them.

1. Primarily, we must recognize the diversity among ex-gays. There are ex-gays who believe gays can also be Christians, who support partnership agreements, adoption of children, etc.
2. We must also recognize that ex-gays and gays represent two, sides of the same community. We have similar childhood experiences as being "sexually different," including social problems, internal conflicts and confusion, rejection from family, friends, employers and churches, etc. Even by choosing the ex-gay path, many people are unable to understand the term ex-gay and continue to perceive the ex-gay as gay, especially if the ex-gay exhibits the more stereotypical "homosexual" traits.
3. Seeking balanced information is crucial. Both the gay community and the PRR are notorious for spreading propaganda about the opposition. Myths exist on both side that are damaging.
4. Both groups have some similar interests, such as promoting self-esteem in sexually-different children, preventing gay bashing, etc. In American culture, many bashers, employers who discriminate, etc, don't care whether or not a person is actually gay, but only if they appear gay. The methods for achieving the goals of youth and adult safety are currently quite different. However, considering the magnitude and immediacy of the problem of youth suicide, gay bashing and discrimination, collaboration seems to be a crucial development in the evolution of our two sub-groups, both of whom have a vested interest in decreasing these problems.
5. The use of appropriate language is a crucial part of constructive dialogue. In any situation when dialoguing across emotionally charged issues, neutrality of language is important. Using "I" statements ("I feel like..."), refraining from generalizing ("All of you Christians do this ....") and treating each other with respect, regardless of differing opinions, are crucial parts of marinating communication and resolving problems.