Evergreen International bills itself as “the most complete resource for Latter-day Saints on same-sex attraction.” As one of the larger ex-gay organizations after Exodus International, a number of familiar names in that arena hail from Evergreen. Outgoing NARTH President Dean Byrd is one example.
While they exist to serve other Mormons, there is a curious ecumenical cooperation between Evergreen and Evangelical organizations such as Exodus. Exodus President Alan Chambers and Vice President Randy Thomas have spoken at Evergreen’s annual conference in the past, and Exodus speaker Janelle Hallman was a keynote speaker, both in 2003 and just last month.
From this the reader should understand that Evergreen is not a small, back-woods ministry — it’s a big deal in the ex-gay world. This fact only serves to intensify our shock at finding convicted sex offender Chris Austin listed as a resource,* (archived) right along with the aforementioned Exodus staff and many others. Chris Austin is an ex-gay therapist who was convicted of sexual assault on a client last year. He is listed under the heading “Keynote Speakers and Frequent Presenters at Evergreen conferences, Firesides, and Workshops.”
Christopher Austin is a therapist specializing in homosexual and sexual addiction recovery. He and his wife are therapists at Christian counseling centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He is the creator of RENEW, a multi-dimensional treatment approach for men struggling with homosexuality, and has written a treatment program called Cleaning Out the Closet. His wife Karla runs programs for spouses of husbands who struggle with homosexuality. They are the parents of three boys.
Although (thankfully) it appears Austin has not spoken at an event since 1996, this would be little solace to someone in Irving, Texas who might find this reference and consider it a validation of Austin’s credentials. As we reported last year, even after being sentenced to 10 years (reduced to 7 years probation), Austin was still answering the phone as “Dr. Austin, Counseling Center.” With the unwitting assistance of organizations like Evergreen, Austin could conceivably pick up where he left off.
Incidents like this emphasize the generally haphazard way so many ex-gay organizations conduct business. These are largely not professional therapeutic programs, but ministries in the loosest sense. They are often rife with factual assertions which have no basis in fact, or scriptural interpretations which substitute for therapeutic training. Anyone can establish and run one of these groups — they are not required to be accountable to anyone.
Evergreen does not respond to emails from XGW. We publicly call for them to edit Austin’s reference to reflect his conviction and thereby help inform those who may have thought him a good resource by way of Evergreen’s negligent reference. To simply remove his name with no explanation would be an attempt avoid responsibility for this negligence entirely.
We also call on Evergreen to explain how this happened in a transparent manner; do they have anyone monitoring their resources for accuracy? If not, why not, and if so, what happened? These are serious questions that demand a public reply.
Since ex-gay ministries so often stand as cover for the covert practice of psychiatry, should they be monitored and regulated as such?
*Update: (Oct 9, 2:00am ET) – It appears that Evergreen has finally removed the reference to Chris Austin, however they provided no explanation and no warning to those who might have seen and trusted it over the past year. We emailed Evergreen again yesterday to ask them to take it down, but commenter Bill Rice says he called them as well. Whichever worked, at least it is finally down.
Sorry I just want to clarify — David, you called Austin while writing this post?
No, I called for the first post, AFTER he had been convicted and sentenced. He had no business doing so from all I can tell, so I have no reason to believe he might not do so again.
Don’t be so hard on Evergreen. In every dealing I’ve had with them, they have been very professional and helpful. Apparently they did have Austin speak at a conference 12 years ago, long before Austin committed any crime. I called Evergreen, and they say that Austin was never on their list of referral therapists. They simply have him listed as a person who once spoke, with the information that was valid at the time. I assume they’ll update their website now that they now about Austin’s crime.
Regular XGW readers will know that we very often give others the benefit of the doubt. It depends on the issue, the history of the other party, and in this case, the degree of negligence.
With all due respect Bill, you display far too much concern for Evergreen, and far too little for the vulnerable people who may end up at their site. When we reported on Chris Austin’s conviction last year, we emailed Evergreen to let them know he was on their list, and I believe to ask them for any comment on the record.
We never heard back but it was assumed that they would remove Austin’s name and/or place a warning about his conviction as a matter of self-interest if nothing else. (I believe we did the same for NARTH but I can’t be certain until I look back). Now here we are a year later and Evergreen has not changed a thing.*
Perhaps we should have kept checking throughout the year and for the fact that we didn’t I am truly sorry. However, where is Evergreen’s accountability? People who feel trapped by these issues do not often want to announce themselves as they search for an answer, so I reject the excuse that Austin was “never a referral” as somehow lessening their responsibility.
They list him under “Keynote Speakers and Frequent Presenters at Evergreen conferences, Firesides, and Workshops.” He is there along with the biggest names in the ex-gay world. Few to none are going to parse out that “oh, he is just someone they had speak once, he isn’t important now.”
I’m certainly glad they have been “professional and helpful” with you, but it really means nothing to his issue. We are understanding when it is called for, just as we are harsh when it is called for. If they are going to contribute to the grief of others through pseudo-science and religious dogma dressed up as therapy, the very least they can do is make sure they don’t have any sex offenders on their list of notable speakers and therapists.
And if that is not enough to show that I am not being too hard on Evergreen, let me also remind you that we must scream before many of these organizations will listen — even to a simple and necessary correction like this one. It is the same stance that Exodus has taken — fingers in ears and sing your favorite song so we don’t have to be accountable to something from those who don’t “share our mission.”
Now if you were to have said, “Gee, I can’t understand this, they have always been so nice and professional with me. But regardless, this really is too important to ignore and they really should make some changes to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Well, now that’s more generous than I think they deserve at this point but at least it would show that your priorities are in the right order, rather than spinning this away from Evergreen. One doesn’t need to hate them, to be hard on them when it counts.
I honestly am not trying to be rude, Bill. But after we ran the Chris Austin post, many, many people with heart wrenching stories came through, commenting both publicly and privately, and it was just plain horrifying. I feel strongly about this kind of unprofessional, sloppy behavior from those who, in my opinion, cause enough pain already. I don’t think I’m being too hard on Evergreen.
* See update at the end of the original post.