by Beth Maples-Bays
East Tennessee Bureau Chief

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force released a report today spotlighting the third wave of the ex-gay movement entitled “Youth in the Crosshairs: the Third Wave of Ex-Gay Activism.” In a national radio press conference attended by several luminaries of American GLBT activism, the report brings attention to the issue of gay youth as targets for the so-called “reparative therapy” movement.

The study illustrates the nuts and bolts of a movement that is designed to prevent GLBT people from “owning” their identities and whose main goal is to prevent those same people from gaining basic civil rights. In fact, the “therapy” can do immediate and long-term harm to gay youth and has been associated with depression, suicidal ideation, sexual dysfunction, and other psychosocial problems. There is also a high correlation with distancing from loved ones, both significant others and biological family members.

The impetus for the study also came from the realization on the part of national experts that there is shift in focus occurring within the “ex-gay” movement. In turning away from “curing” adults and focusing on “prevention” in children and aggressive treatment of teens, the movement has begun to concentrate its attention on some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

Attending the press conference were Jason Cianciotto, study author and director of research, Task Force Policy Institute; Matt Foreman, executive director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force; Florida resident Justin Flippen, a survivor of an ex-gay program; Wayne Besen, author of the critically acclaimed book, Anything But Straight: Unmasking the Scandals and Lies Behind the Ex-Gay Myth; Rev. Jerry Stephenson, a former Southern Baptist minister and ex-gay program survivor; and Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director, Lambda Legal.

Wayne Besen summed up the need for moving forward in countering the negative effects of the ex-gay proponents and said, “The “right wing” is nervous. Today’s youth are much more supportive of our community that in the past. The children of conservatives are coming out.”

The paper is available online at The Task Force Web site at http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/crosshairs.pdf.

See our April edition for more about the youth study and local issues concerning youth and those who care about their issues in East Tennessee.