While in Nashville for Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out,” Exodus spokesman Randy Thomas took the time to lobby 25 state lawmakers:
I am going to share from the heart but I want to get across this one theme right out of the gate: When it comes to public policy regarding homosexuality say no to special rights or preferential empowerment but say yes to grass roots respect and equal enforcement of current law.
After describing being attacked as a teen-ager by gaybashers, and then mocked by homophobic police, Thomas dismisses the denial of his civil rights. He says he could never compare the police abuse to the suffering of women and blacks. Thomas believes that gays 15 years ago wanted “tolerance”, but he has redefined “tolerance” to mean “being discriminated against and treated unequally, but according to the law, not in violation of it.” Then Thomas declares that in the 15 years since then, homosexual activist leaders (whom he declines to identify) have sought to seize power and silence all dissent.
I say this because 15 years ago you did have a terrible problem with homophobia, I experienced it up close and personal. Although those officers did not strip me of civil rights they did dehumanize me by not equally enforcing the law. Authorities should be held accountable for enforcing existing laws fairly to all people, not creating new laws that punish the same crimes with different severity because of politically correct trends. Do not shrink away from the crimes of the past but don’t water down true civil rights to give preferential empowerment to a few.
Thomas makes a distinction between the enforcement of equitable civil law (which he opposes) and the enforcement of criminal law — which he supports. Then he declines to specify a single example of how gays are now being granted “preferential empowerment.”
Looking beyond Thomas’ ignorance of law, Thomas’ underlying intent is apparent. When he promotes “tolerance” and “respect,” he is not promoting equality for heterosexuals and homosexuals under the law. Nor is he discouraging discrimination.
He is merely discouraging police brutality.
Why is this kapo wasting his time trying to put sticks into the gears of the queer community?
Why? Because the kapo is miserable and wants to ensure that other gay people are less than happy.
That’s why.
Also, don’t forget that the kapo makes more than a few bucks off this. Query what he’d be doing if he actually had to get a real job.
(/sarcasm)
Calling someone a kapo doesn’t accomplish much, does it?
I agree it is ironic that Chambers claims to follow Jesus of Nazareth as his spiritual model.
Jesus of Nazareth got himself persecuted and crucified to save others.
Chambers and Thomas persecute others in order to make being ex-gay more appealing (or to make being openly gay less appealing) than either would be if sexual minorities had the same rights as everyone else. Symbolically crucifying others to make life less difficult on oneself is not my idea of Christ-like conduct.
I’m not sure why Exodus and Alan/Randy do what they do. I don’t understand how they can go from being gay to ex-gay and forget what it’s like to be on the other side. That’s what baffles me. They truly believe that they are helping people (although it seems that they are stepping over and crushing 50 people to get to 1 person they are “helping” – and many of us who have been “helped” have finally sat up and said – wait – no more “help” – because your “help” is slowly killing me!)
I’m always amazed at ex-gays who talk about how miserable their life was when they were gay. I feel like, life is kinda what you make it (not always, but there is truth in it). I know a lot of really miserable straight people who are persuing meaningless relationships and nameless/faceless sexual encounters. I know lots of straight people who would say that they are not happy with the bar scenes and the dating world and sexually transmitted diseases. This doesn’t make being heterosexual a bad thing. It just shows that for whatever reason (and I definitely can have compassion here) people of both orientations make wrong choices based on things that need healing in their lives.
I don’t understand where Randy’s going with the whole homophobia thing either. If he experienced homophobia “up close and personal” then wouldn’t it follow that he wouldn’t want the same to happen to other people – especially since they spend a lot of time professing their love for their “gay brothers and sisters”?
I don’t agree with name-calling, but there is definitely something going on that smacks of that same type of thing (the kapo deal), and I don’t get it. I don’t know that I agree though that their goal is to make being ex-gay more appealing. I am not sure what it is, but that doesn’t seem to “fit” how I view it. But maybe that’s just me…
Annika,
I’m curious to know how you interpret Alan’s statement that he would still be gay today if gays had been permitted to marry when he was confronted with the choice to be ex-gay, years back. And that keeping marriage illegal for gays “will save tens of thousands of hurting young people like me from the biggest mistakes of their lives: looking to man to meet a need that only God can meet.”
Disclosure: I happened to be rewording the last paragraph of my last comment at the same time Annika posted her last message.
Mike, I guess I don’t believe it. He has shown (by being in the positions he’s been in within the ex-gay/christian community) that he doesn’t have a huge problem enduring criticism or scorn. I find it hard to believe that the incentive for going the ex-gay route had to do with equal rights. Usually whenever I hear the testimony of an ex-gay, they always talk about how miserable they were being gay, and how happy they are now being ex-gay, and they talk about religious issues and sin and lonliness and empty sex with multiple partners.
But you’re right, he does say that (about the equal rights). And it doesn’t ring true to me. I think he’s looking back on things and putting a spin on it. If it is true for him, then I’d guess that he’s pretty unique.
In all of my time with other ex-gays and in ex-gay ministries, I’ve never met anyone who was trying to change because of persecution and discrimination. I never once heard that brought up as a reason to change. That might have played a small part when it got lumped in with everything else that was wrong in their lives, but usually the biggies were parents/family lack of acceptance and their religious views. I can’t imagine anyone being so upset about a lack of civil rights that they would undergo reparative therapy so they could be married to someone of the opposite gender. They may want to get married to satisfy their parents, or their God, or produce children (and grandchildren) but not because they don’t have the right to marry as a gay person. I mean, the rights and priveledges that come along with marriage are nice…but…not that nice!
In my experience, probably half of the people I’ve met in ex-gay ministries aren’t even out in their everyday lives. They’ve never been out or had their civil rights really violated. They’ve never experienced much persecution or worried about whether they’d be able to marry someone of the same gender. Many are married to members of the opposite sex already. Many others (in my experience) are young kids who haven’t had much of a chance to be very out and suffer discrimination, or are going secretly and not even telling their religious friends/parents that they have this unwanted orientation – hoping to get rid of it quick before they have to admit it.
To me, if I am allowed to get married to a woman or not, that is not as big an issue as what I believe about whether God loves/accepts me or how my family/friends react to me. And legislation doesn’t change that. Having equal rights for gays doesn’t just automatically translate into a change in major religions and people’s personal opinions about their children being “different.” So I guess that’s why when I hear stuff like that I just think…huh? Is Alan really so different from the rest of us?
This is Randy Thomas, right?
What strikes me is how childish he seems to act, as if childishness and being like a child were the same thing.
Note from one of his links on his page.
“What a great Thanksgiving!…I have a new crayon”