Ex-Homosexual Ministry Leader Says Truth is Coming Out
by Allie Martin and Jenni Parker
February 15, 2005
(AgapePress) - An official with Exodus International, the world's largest resource and referral organization dealing with homosexuality, says homosexual activists are not showing tolerance when it comes to a series of billboards promoting an upcoming conference in Houston, Texas.
Sixteen billboards advertising an upcoming Love Won Out conference have been replaced around the Houston area. The billboards feature pictures of former homosexuals offering a message of hope and change -- individuals who profess that it is possible to leave the "gay" lifestyle. Exodus International sponsored the ads in preparation for the public seminar, an event co-sponsored by Focus on the Family and designed to examine the roots and causes of homosexuality.
The one-day Love Won Out conference, which has been held in 30 cities worldwide, is scheduled to make its first stop in Houston this Saturday. The event focuses on the hope and help available for those who struggle with unwanted homosexuality, largely through the personal testimonies of former homosexuals. Exodus International participates in the conference, offering support to people who want to leave homosexuality and providing them with long-term guidance and resources through member chapters in the region.
Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International and a featured speaker of the conference, says the ministry sponsored the billboards "in the hopes that many in Houston will, possibly for the first time, question the permanence of homosexuality." He himself left the homosexual lifestyle in 1991 and has gone on to become an accomplished writer and much sought-after speaker on the subject.
"Thousands of people, like myself, felt trapped by homosexuality and found an escape through Jesus Christ," Chambers says. "Our life stories challenge many misconceptions about homosexuality and we want the public to hear another aspect of this difficult issue."
However, the outcry from pro-homosexual activists has been swift and vehement in protest against the conference and its organizers. Those involved with the event, along with the billboards promoting it, have been labeled hateful by some homosexual groups and their supporters. Chambers says that is because many people involved in or supportive of the homosexual lifestyle "don't want the truth to be told."
The Exodus International spokesman says homosexual activists do not want others to know that change is possible because that fact invalidates their experience and infringes on their ability to promote their agenda in society. "If one person can change," he asserts, "then their story and their lifestyle comes into question."
Nevertheless, Chambers says the truth is getting out. He has had numerous opportunities to speak out about ex-homosexual ministry and related issues, having written for the Southern Baptist Convention, Charisma magazine, and the Orlando Sentinel on the topic, and he has also appeared to discuss the subject in such venues as ABC's "20/20" and "Nightline" and MSNBC's "Buchanan and Press," and as a regular contributor on Janet Parshall's "America" program.
"There's been interest from national media as well as all the all the local papers and local news agencies, covering the truth," Chambers notes. Homosexual activists and supporters are always there amidst the controversy "to stir up a hornets' nest," he says, "but the fact is, when you put something like that on television, people who need help and who want help can find an alternative -- and it's been a great thing."
After the February 19 event in Houston, the Love Won Out conference will be held on April 16 in Louisville, Kentucky; May 14 in Winnipeg, Manitoba; June 25 in Seattle, Washington; and September 17 in Birmingham, Alabama.
