The Blog

Remembering Yuki Vivienne Choe

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By on Jan 10th, 2021

We wish to offer belated condolences to the friends and family of Yuki Vivienne Choe, a conversion therapy survivor and lesbian trans woman who took time to write for Ex-Gay Watch 12 years ago while advocating for LGBTQ rights in her home country of Malaysia.

yuki-1-300x300 Remembering Yuki Vivienne Choe

Yuki Vivienne Choe

Yuki died of a heart attack in September. She was 44.

Just two years ago, Yuki was named one of Malaysia’s best-known ex-gay survivors, and four years ago she was noted as one of Malaysia’s best-known trans advocates.

Yuki identified as post-Christian. Amid global harassment of LGBTQ people and Muslims, Yuki saw a need to identify common ground last year — a cause close to my own heart:

Do you know, homosexuality and gender variance actually existed long before religion did, and at those times, no one bothered them, because they are recognized as part of the diversity of what makes us human? Do you know that back in the beginning of Islam, the civilization was responsible for the advancements of science and mathematics, giving birth to algorithms and alchemy, and world leaders in philosophy? How wonderful life could be if we live and let live, and progress. Unfortunately, it is so much easier to hate, than to love one another.

For fun, Yuki was active on the Kuala Lumpur pub quiz circuit. She also proctored International Quizzing Association/World Quizzing Championship events. In 2017 she volunteered for the Asia-Pacific Quizzing Championships held at Sid’s pub in Kuala Lumpur.

Yuki’s blog is located at yukishock.blogspot.com. She had many friends on Facebook.

Remembering Timothy Kincaid

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By on Jan 10th, 2021

Ex-Gay Watch expresses our condolences to the friends and readers of Timothy Kincaid, a longtime writer for Ex-Gay Watch and Box Turtle Bulletin, another blog that intelligently reported and critically analyzed the conversion therapy movement and religious right.

timothy-200x300 Remembering Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid

Timothy died suddenly in September 2020. We just found out.

I appreciated Timothy’s role here at Ex-Gay Watch because he brought criticism of the ex-gay movement from a conservative perspective, and because his message appealed to libertarians and political moderates.

He and Daniel Gonzales saved XGW in the mid-2000s with their daily written contributions when I went through a period of burnout as editor. They not only wrote and researched with thought and integrity, they made it possible for us to bring even more good volunteer writers on board. 

Timothy went on to greater fame as a writer for Box Turtle Bulletin in 2007.

I include below the remembrance of Timothy by his friends at a sports club in Los Angeles.

We wanted to share the passing of one of our players and an incredible friend of the Weho Community, as much as Varsity Gay League & Weho Dodgeball. But for those who knew him and cared for him, he is/was so much more than just a player in our leagues, he was a friend.
Timothy Kincaid was always a sweet soul, who enjoyed having fun. When we mean fun, we mean living life to every extent.
On the Dodgeball court, he was an absolute competitor never looking at age as a barrier, or whomever was throwing a ball at him. On the Kickball field he was a leader, a kind soul and willing to do whatever it took to win. At Gym Bar, he was an absolute constant.
While we don’t know enough of his journey to properly share a eulogy, we can say with certainty that his face, his presence, and his life will be truly missed.
He has many close friends sharing stories right now, on social media, and we encourage you to celebrate his legacy with love, empathy and compassion.

In recent years Timothy and I got along poorly because of his political views. Nevertheless, he was a talented and thoughtful writer who valued accuracy and integrity, and he was well liked in his home city of West Hollywood.

XGW Digest: December 12, 2015

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By on Dec 12th, 2015

-PBS News looks at the ordeals that gay people have to endure in Nigeria.

-Australia’s House of Representatives gets its first openly gay member.

-The State of Arkansas refuses to list same-sex couples on their children’s birth certificates.

-Presidential candidate Marco Rubio lays out his plan for rolling back LGBT rights.

-A transgender candidate is elected to Venezuela’s National Assembly.

-A Czech court recognizes a gay couple as the legal parents of their adopted children.

-A Christian university is granted federal permission to ban gay students.

-The Cincinnati city council passes a ban on conversion therapy for minors.

-The Savannah, GA city council passes a non-discrimination ordinance.

-A Wisconsin town rejects the Liberty Counsel’s anti-gay rhetoric.

XGW Digest: December 5, 2015

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By on Dec 5th, 2015

-The Parliament of Cyprus passes a civil partnerships bill.

-The Mexican Supreme Court strikes down another same-sex marriage ban.

-A new poll finds 51% support for marriage equality in Japan.

-A group of gunmen open fire at a gay festival in Acapulco.

-World AIDS Day is commemorated around the globe.

-Ireland’s Parliament votes to protect the rights of LGBT teachers working at religious schools.

-Michigan Republicans launch another effort to undermine marriage equality.

-The government of Northern Ireland asserts that civil partnerships are enough for gay couples.

XGW Digest: November 25, 2015

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By on Nov 25th, 2015

-A gay Ugandan is denied asylum in the UK,

-Pat Robertson acknowledges that the sin of Sodom was not homosexuality.

-Same-sex marriages begin in Ireland.

-An Australian senator drops his opposition to marriage equality and becomes a supporter.

-Tucson, AZ hires an openly gay police chief.

-November 20 was the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

-Portugal legalizes adoption by gay couples.

-23 students are arrested in Nigeria for alleged acts of gay sex.

-The government of Vietnam passes a transgender rights bill.

XGW Digest: November 14, 2015

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By on Nov 14th, 2015

-Kentucky’s governor-elect announces that he will remove county clerks’ names from marriage licenses.

-The Dallas City Council considers expanding anti-discrimination protections.

-Conservatives start a petition to “drop the T” from LGBT.

-A lesbian couple faces jail time in Costa Rica for getting married.

-President Obama officially endorses the Equality Act.

-An anti-trans activist defends a man charged with spying on women in a bathroom.

-The Australian Senate calls for a legislative vote on marriage equality instead of a referendum.

-The Vatican meets with the US Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTI Persons.

-A Utah judge orders that a baby be removed from its lesbian foster parents – then suspends his order after it draws attention.

-The Ukrainian Parliament passes an anti-discrimination law.

XGW Digest: November 7, 2015

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By on Nov 7th, 2015

-The Church of Norway allows same-sex weddings to be held in its churches.

-The Parliament of Northern Ireland passes, and then vetoes, a marriage equality bill.

-Gays who adopted their partners for legal purposes find themselves unable to marry.

-Ben Carson comes under fire from the religious right for supporting non-discrimination policies as a corporate board member.

-A gay couple is violently assaulted in Palm Springs.

-Voters strike down Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance.

-Early results indicate that Salt Lake City has elected an openly gay mayor.

-Two Tokyo wards begin recognizing same-sex couples.

-Colombia’s Constitutional Court rules that gay couples can adopt children.

-The Mormon Church moves to prohibit the baptism of children of LGBT couples.

XGW Digest: October 31, 2015

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By on Oct 31st, 2015

-Houston Texans owner Bob McNair withdraws a donation to the anti-gay Campaign for Houston.

-Young adult author James Dawson comes out as transgender.

-Russian lawmakers propose a further expansion of the country’s anti-gay laws.

-Ten same-sex couples participate in a mass wedding in Taipei, Taiwan.

-Another anti-gay politician is outed.

-An intersex veteran sues for the right to not specify a gender on their passport.

-A Colombian city elects an openly gay conservative mayor.

-The Netherlands lifts its lifetime ban on blood donations by gay men.

-Ireland’s Presidential Commission signs marriage equality into law.

XGW Digest: October 24, 2015

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By on Oct 24th, 2015

-A transgender woman is murdered in Maryland.

-John Corvino considers possible ways to balance religious freedom with non-discrimination laws.

-A British army general wants more LGBT people to join the military.

-Polls show residents favoring Houston’s LGBT rights referendum by a narrow margin.

-Civil unions begin in Chile.

-Slovenia’s Constitutional Court approves a referendum to repeal marriage equality.

-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepares an executive order to protect transgender rights.

-An Indonesian province makes gay sex a punishable offense.

XGW Digest: October 17, 2015

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By on Oct 17th, 2015

-A British journalist exposes the continued use of shock therapy on gay patients in China.

-A new survey reveals the depth of anti-gay sentiment in Russia.

-Actor Victor Garber marries his partner.

-A Texas judge recognizes a gay couple’s common law marriage.

-India’s Missionaries of Charity ends adoption services to avoid the possibility of a gay parent adopting a child.

-Hate crimes are on the rise in England and Wales.

-A civil unions bill is introduced in the Italian Parliament.

-Justice Sonia Sotomayor presides over a same-sex wedding.

-A new report from a federal agency calls for an end to conversion therapy.