Ex-Homosexual Blasts Time's Teen Homosexuality Article as 'Pro-Gay Puff Piece'

by Jim Brown and Jenni Parker
October 6, 2005

(AgapePress) - A former homosexual turned Christian activist is denouncing a new Time Magazine article on homosexual teens. The Time cover story "The Battle Over Gay Teens" reports that kids are disclosing their homosexuality with unprecedented regularity, and they are doing so much younger.

Evangelist and recording artist Stephen Bennett, who spent 11 years in a homosexual lifestyle before becoming a Christian, believes the Time piece written by homosexual John Cloud derides Christians and former homosexuals. Meanwhile, Bennett contends, the article propagates false information and functions as a "major pro-gay puff piece."

The evangelist notes, "One of the lines in there that really struck me as just an outright lie -- and there are many in there -- says, 'The appearance of so many gay adolescents has predictably worried social conservatives, but it also has surprised gay activists, who for years did little to help the few teenagers who were coming out.' That's a complete lie. The Human Rights Campaign for years has had a major campaign helping teens to come out."

Cloud's article reports that, from young ages, "straight kids are growing up with more openly bisexual, gay, and sexually uncertain classmates." However, Bennett asserts, "This article is filled with tons of misinformation, mocking of Bible-believing Christians, of people who have come out of homosexuality such as myself and who are happily married now."

As head of Stephen Bennett Ministries (SBM), the Christian spokesman works to combat the kind of misleading, pro-homosexual propaganda he sees in the Time article. SBM believes no one is born homosexual; that unnatural homosexual attractions tragically develop early on in the childhood; and that homosexuality can be overcome by dealing biblically with the root causes of same-sex attraction. As an educational organization, SBM works to raise awareness of the truth about homosexuality and to inform the church and the public about the dangers of misinformation being promoted by homosexual activists.

Bennett offers himself as proof that people can find freedom from unwanted same-sex attraction through a relationship with Christ. "I am happily married to my wife of over 12 years, have two beautiful little children, and don't struggle with this whatsoever," he says. The former homosexual turned ministry leader sees Time's article on homosexual teens as another attempt to obscure the truth and promote lies about the inherency and immutability of the lifestyle. "And this is very tragic," he says.

The Time article claims that "at many schools around the country it is now profoundly uncool to be seen as anti-gay." That is one conclusion with which Bennett happens to agree. A Time Public Affairs press release notes that while there were approximately 100 Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) on U.S. high school campuses, there are at least 3,000 of these clubs for "gay and gay-friendly kids" at high schools nationwide today.

This means nearly one in ten high schools nationwide has a GSA, according to the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which registers and advises Gay-Straight Alliance groups. Time Public Affairs reports that, during the 2004-2005 academic year, GSAs were established at U.S. schools at the rate of three per day.

Bennett has asked Time to run a story on former homosexuals. He says he has asked the same thing of the Oprah Winfrey Show numerous times in the wake of its repeated promotions of teenage homosexuality.