As we previously reported here, Exodus president Alan Chambers writes in his new book:
Anyone, no matter his or her background, should be carefully screened before being entrusted with precious children. As with any childcare worker, criminal background checks should be done to ensure that the worker has no criminal history and especially no history of violence or abuse against children.
If only Exodus would practice what its president preaches.
Steve Boese of A Tenable Belief notes that — unlike reputable church and gay-youth programs — Exodus’ youth programs seem to have few published guidelines (possibly none at all) protecting youth participants from abuse and molestation.
Boese writes:
Now that Exodus leaders have spoken to the need to protect youth, I’d love to see them take a logical next step by publishing the minimum requirements of Exodus-affiliated programs which work with youth. Exodus already has requirements for churches wishing to join its network, such as:
The contact person for this area of ministry within the church must have a minimum of three years free from all immoral sexual behavior and meet Biblical standards of leadership.
Given their promotion of services and support for questioning youth, Exodus could follow its own advice by publishing answers to questions like these:
- When parents follow the link labeled Find a ministry, counselor, or church in your area under the Youth heading of the Exodus home page, what does it mean when a ministry’s services are designated Adolescents:Y or Children of Gay Parents:Y?
- What are the screening guidelines for adult volunteers and staffers of Exodus Member Ministries which serve adolescents?
- Describe the minimum training requirements for volunteers/staff members having contact with youth.
- What guidelines are in place when face-to-face or online contacts occur between the ministries’ adult volunteers/staff and youth?
- What are the boundaries of appropriate touch (if touch is sanctioned at all) between adult leaders and youth?
- Since some of the Exodus referral ministries serve adults struggling with pedophilia and sexual abuse, what guidelines prevent youth from being exposed to unscreened adults or age-inappropriate issues?
Poking around the Exodus and ExodusYouth web sites, I’m not finding any answers yet… looks like the time is ripe to change that!
Ex-Gay Watch wants to hear from both youths and adults who have attended Exodus-affiliated youth and live-in programs. What did you observe being done to protect youth participants from exposure to wayward adults? Did you personally witness or experience problems?
At your request, your observations will be held in confidence.
Actually, we just finished them and distibuted them to our ministries. All ministries working with youth will have to comply with the new standards or they won’t work with youth as an Exodus Member Ministry.
While I am certainly glad you are doing this, I have to admit being shocked, Alan. Are you saying that until now there were no formal standards in place? If you are just now getting around to creating them, that makes me more than a little nervous. Exodus is 30 years old, how old are the live-in ministries under the Exodus umbrella?
Since transparency on such issues is so important, will you provide a public copy of these guidelines?
David,
Exodus has had standards for its members for many years. Since I became the President in 2001 those standards have continue to increase. We have been developing and implementing the youth standards over the past 5 years. In 2007 they will get a lot tougher..a lot.
Prior to my leadership there wasn’t a youth emphasis and therefore the reason that there weren’t standards for them prior to 2002, to my knowledge.
I imagine the list of standards will be public on our website come January.
Ms. Ezren’s recent book about a live in ex-gay program specifically mentioned the high rate of sexual activity among the participants in the program. I would hope that folks like Alan Chambers would read those sections and think about their implications for youth that might participate in these programs. I also think that any responsible parent would take a look at what Ms. Ezren found before puting their kid (possibly by force and coersion) into the hands of these programs, particuluarly the live-in programs.
John,
I imagine that there are adults in adult programs offered by Exodus Member Ministries that do engage in sexual activity on their own time. THere are plenty of AA group members who go out with one another to bars and get drunk. When dealing with such gut wrenching issues neither are a surprise.
However, where youth are concerned, they are not allowed in adult groups. Youth are supervised at all times and whenever they attend an Exodus International sponsored event (like a conference) they are not allowed entrance or to roam freely without one or both of their parents.
I appreciate the scrutiny, truly. I want there to be rigid guidelines in place to protect young people while offering them and their parents an alternative to homosexuality.
My question to you and others is what is being done to ensure the same protection in gay sponsored groups or events? I went to a group in Orlando as a teen and saw plenty of inappropriate, even illegal, behavior going on between adults and youth. We hear from parents and teens all the time about such practices. I am not going to say this is always the case, but there is illegal activity where youth are concerned going on in gay sponsored programs. There isn’t in Exodus sponsored ones—and I pray that there never is.
Suffice to say, we all need to work hard to ensure that youth are protected. SO, while you are pointing the finger or casting the light over here, how about challenging your side to the same high and important standards.
I went to a group in Orlando as a teen and saw plenty of inappropriate, even illegal, behavior going on between adults and youth.
Could you be more specific? I lived in Orlando during that period and I don’t remember much in the way of “official” groups that would have placed adults and youth together. What was the event and who sponsored it?
As much as I agree (strongly) that all such interaction should be supervised and governed by strict guidelines, your request of us seems a tad disingenuous. You were asked about the actions you are taking to protect youths in programs under the Exodus umbrella. We have no such organization or authority. That would be like asking a straight blogger to make sure all heterosexual programs were run a certain way; it’s not a meaningful statement and only furthers the falicy that there is one massive gay order out there.
On the other hand, Exodus has direct responsibility for such things, and you were the one who made the statement in your book. Since ex-gay issues are our focus, asking you about this makes a lot of sense.
Alan,
I am on the one hand pleased that your organization seems to be taking measures to protect youth in Exodus programs, but I am very, very disturbed by your comments about adult-youth sexual activity that you have personally observed in the past and is being reported to you by parents. Your comments seem to indicate that the parental reports are current.
I have some very serious questions about what you do with such information. If you have personal knowledge about adults who have had sex with children when you were a teen, what have you done today to protect kids from those adults? Although the statute of limitations may be up on those crimes that you personally observed, I am sure that the police and youth organizations with which these sexual predators may still be involved would be interested in protecting kids today. If you have such knowledge that can protect kids today from sexual abuse, you have a moral duty to act and inform so that kids can be protected.
The same goes for all of these reports that you are passing along in this forum from parents. It makes me wonder what your status is in Florida under the Mandatory Reporting Laws regarding Child Abuse, Elder Abuse and the Abuse of Dependent Individuals. Some states require clergy and religious organizations to report such cases when disclosed to them. Even if Florida does not make such a requirement, I would think any moral person would do everything that they could to prevent further actions against kids from taking place. Since your organization is national, I would guess some of these reports originate from outside Florida. I don’t know what your legal reporting requirements are for an incident that occurred in Ohio or Pennsylvania, but I have a good sense of what your moral obligations are.
I personally have not run accross such reports or witnessed the activities that you describe in gay groups, but I am not heavily involved in gay youth groups of any sort. I will tell you though that I personally would immediately report any such information that I recieved about such activity to local law enforcememnt and child protective service agencies. Since I am not aware of large numbers of such incidents being reported in the media (and they would get coverage), I am left to wonder what you are doing personally with this information that you are getting “all the time.”
I sincerely pray that you are not withholding this information from the law enforcement and child protection agencies that could stop this.
By the way, without going into too much detail, I am a Mandatory Reporter under California State Law and have made many reports about child abuse (physical, sexual and neglect). Most of these have occurred through work, but not all.
Whenever a teen or a parent divulges such information and we have their name or information we report it. So often people call here and don’t give us their names, numbers or any identifiable information.
Why would I withold information to protect pedophiles or pro-gay youth organizations?
David, I answered your questions about youth guidelines and simply encouraged you all to be as interested in pro-gay youth groups. I know that Ex-Gay Watch doesn’t have youth programs—you knew what I meant.
As for the group in Orlando, it was at one time called Galaxy–though Galaxy, to my knowledge, developed out of the group that I attended. This was 16-18 years ago.
Slightly off topic, but I just wanted to state something unique I’ve noticed:
Alan, thanks for being cordial on these boards. I’m more of a lurker than anything and the majority of the exgay or exgay affiliates who come on here don’t show good debate skills and either passively or actively look for fights.
Back on topic:
Alan, when I was in highschool, during my senior year a gay youth group was being formed and I was an initial participant. This group had one of the school counselors available at each meeting and fell under the school guidelines for participation and safety. The city and state were Roanoke, Virginia, for reference.
I don’t know if the gay group is still there, I sincerely hope it is considering some of the problems I encountered in that school, but if it is I believe that it can only be doing good. I managed to find my way to acceptance on my own, but many without guidance in a hostile environment have a much rockier journey to self accepance than I did. Further, the comfort and information disseminated in such groups will hopefully improve the quality of the gay community in the town, at this time I believe a lack of information and tolerance has made it a gay community I disliked being a part of. In dallas, where programs, information, and acceptance are more mature, the gay community is signifiantly healthier.
Alan, if youth were getting abused in gay organizatgions as often as you claim and you’ve reported it, it would be all over the news given the rabid anti-gay sentiments of so much of the population. That its not strongly suggests it isn’t happening like you’d ask us to believe.
Whenever a teen or a parent divulges such information and we have their name or information we report it.
Have you ever made such a report to law enforcement?
I know that Ex-Gay Watch doesn’t have youth programs—you knew what I meant.
Well, no actually I didn’t or I would have said so. It seemed to me that you were deflecting the focus of a specific inquiry with a generic comment which implied a double standard on our part.
Randi,
We do not live in a rabidly anti-gay culture. And, the media barely reports anything that reflects poorly on the gay community.
Alan,
As I am certain that you know, we do not in any way sanction abuse of children by any organization, gay or ex-gay, and would strongly encourage gay youth organizations to protect children. And I assure you that if we knew of any lack of protections from a gay youth group we would be as critical and questioning of them as of you.
However, we are not aware of this lack of protections that you mention. All you have provided us is a group from 18 years ago and a claim that many of the accusations passed on to you were anonymous. That doesn’t give us much of a place to start our questioning and criticism.
I am aware of the wild assertions of Brian Camenker, but otherwise I know of no instances of dangerous, abusive, inappropriate, or any other instances of gay youth organizations being lax in protection.
You have indicated that you have done some reporting. If that is the case, surely you can direct us to the organizations that you think are lacking in controls.
But it is irresponsible to accuse us of not being critical of dangerous groups while refusing to indicate what groups you are speaking of.
Timothy,
I did not accuse you or anyone here of anything. All I did was encourage all of you to scrutinize pro gay organizations in the same manner that Exodus is being scrutinized.
No need to be defensive.
Alan,
I am glad to hear that you are reporting these incidents. If these are coming in all the time, then even the minority of those that mention individuals or organizations would be substantial.
If we were to forward this discussion thread to the agency administrator for Child Protective Services in the Orlando area, would he/she have records of the reports that you have submitted? Or conversely, if Orlando area Child Protective Services personnel were to visit your offices, would you be able to provide them with copies of the CPS reports that you and your organization have filed?
Pardon me for being skeptical, but I have seen you make outrageous accusations many times with no foundation. Most are political or ideological, but this one is different. When it comes to child sexual abuse, those who claim to have knowleged about sexual abuse against children take on the very heavy burden of reporting what they know to authorities and being able to document what they reported, to whom they reported and when they reported the abuse. Are you really able to back up these accusations when State of Florida and local Child Protection Services show up looking for answers?
Alan,
Sorry if I sounded defensive. If you think of any organizations – or any of these calls you receive mention organizations – please let us know. If you don’t want to mention their name in public comments, please email me. We do care very much about the protection of gay youth.
I am happy that you are establishing guidelines. After the concerns raised in the past about LIA, they are very welcome. Learning about the practices there, I was quite concerned for the safety and protection (physical, mental, and emotional) of those young persons involved.
Alan said “We do not live in a rabidly anti-gay culture. And, the media barely reports anything that reflects poorly on the gay community.“.
That’s ridiculous Alan, just look at all those people that voted to deprive loving gay couples of the right to equal marriage. Look at the rhetoric of you, your organization, and the misnamed “family” organizations. You tell outrageous lies about LBGTs, and claim the worst examples are representative of all of us. The American governemnt stood with Iran in oppossing gay rights groups getting consultative status to the U.N. when gays are horrifically persecuted around the world. What kind of evil motivation interferes with efforts to end the global torture and murder of people for being gay? A rabidly anti-gay culture, that’s who’s responsible.
Alan Chambers: “I went to a group in Orlando as a teen and saw plenty of inappropriate, even illegal, behavior going on between adults and youth.”
Alan Chambers: “As for the group in Orlando, it was at one time called Galaxy–though Galaxy, to my knowledge, developed out of the group that I attended. This was 16-18 years ago.”
By the way, it’s “GALIXY” — Gay And Lesbian Idea eXchange for Youth. They were the one’s abused by the local rep. for Winter Park with a tirade. At one time they gathered at The Centre.
And tell me Alan, as GALIXY was formed — originally — as a discussion forum some time about 2000… your involvement “16-18 years ago” seems mysteriously lacking a little detail. The Centre itself only opened it’s doors in 1987.
What is the name of the youth group you once were involved in, the one that GALIXY is supposed to have evolved from?
grantdale! I’m so glad to see you!!!! Missed you, mate(s).
Ditto to that. Wondered where you’ve been
Mr. Chambers,
As a man who has spent 9 years loving a man who was abused, I applaude Exodus’ effort to weed out anyone who may abuse the kids it seeks to assist. I don’t agree with your methods or you reasoning. I believe my God and Savior loves me for who I am. And to be anything other than who I am would be hypocracy, but I am glad that you are protecting the children. No man should prey on a child, and unfortunately, groups such as yours, and many church groups, schools, scouts, etc. are exactly where these horrid people will end up if not stopped. If you are being sincere about your methods of screening, keep up the good work. I don’t agree with Exodus, but as a father, I very very much agree with trying to keep kids safe.
I guess Alan Chambers isn’t going to answer David Robert’s direct question if he had ever filed a report to law enforcement about sexual abuse, much less my question about whether he or the Exodus office would be able to produce records of their sexual abuse reports if local Child Protective Service personnel came for a visit.
It leaves me with the distinct impression that Alan’s statement that he gets reports of sexual abuse occurring in pro-gay youth programs “all the time” as an unsuccessful and probably dhshonest attempt to deflect interest in what Exodus-affiliated youth programs are doing to protect youth from abuse.
Another sticky issue that Exodus will need to think about when creating these programs is how to deal with youth who are in the programs involuntarily. Without very tight policies and proceedures governing adult-youth interactions, they also would run the risk of disaffected youth making allegations of mistreatment in order to get out of the program or to strike back once out of the program.
I would think that they got their insurance carriers involved in the policies and proceedures, and look to best practices used in non-ex-gay and non-religious youth living situations. But I doubt they are looking for my advice, since I would tell them to leave the kids alone.