The Dutch Government is giving public money to ex-gay groups in the Netherlands. RefoAnders received 84,000 euros (about $108,000), while Onze Weg received 50,000 euros ($65,000).
Dutch newspaper De Pers accused the organizations of supporting reparative therapy to try to “cure” gays, though the groups denied it. Critics have labelled the decision to award the grants a “compromise” with conservative Christian political party ChristenUnie.
Emancipation Minister Ronald Plasterk defended the subsidies, however, saying that such organizations had overcome “important hurdles” in making homosexuality discussable among Christians, “where there would otherwise be no homo-emancipation at all.”
Despite the controversy, the Netherlands is traditionally regarded as one of the most progressive countries in the world on issues of sexuality and equality, such as same-sex marriage.
Wow, this turned into a really long comment as I started digging around on the websites of these organisations. I hope my rambling translations and opinions help illuminate the situation. If not, I apologise.
Firstly, on Plasterk’s use of the word “homo-emancipation”: that sounds a bit weird in English, but is the normal way to say “gay rights progress” in Dutch: homo is Dutch for gay, and in no way a slur.
I did some quick translation of the Q&A for Onze Weg (Our Way). Their talking points sound familiar but different. I get the feeling they’re evangelical, but they’re not especially upfront about it.
“Homosexuality is an orientation, not a nature: we don’t have to define ourselves according to our sexual orientation.”
“The bible defines us as man and woman … we should not exclude the possibility that our orientation could change.”
“The bible: … Genesis … the bible talks about behaviour not feelings … together be one flesh”
“Causes of homosexuality: Complex … too simplistic to point to simply a gene or other biological cause … deprived of love from same sex adult in childhood … *gay relationships are not able to satisfy the sense of emptiness and loss* … spiritually, it is sin and leads to imprisonment – but gay feelings in themselves are not sin.”
“Change: Let’s define this clearly [holy crap! They’re actually going to define change?!] … meet Christ -> change life … lifelong growth and change to be more Crist-like [didn’t think so. It’s a lot like Chambers’ the opposite of gayness is holiness] …
“Onze Weg believes it is important for someone of a homosexual orientation to learn how to deal with these feelings, NOT to supress or deny them. Onze Weg believes change (from gay to straight) can happen, but it is not the goal: it is most important to follow Christ.”
Their mission: to support Christians who have a homosexual orientation and do not want to enter into a ss relationship.
The testimonials are too depressing to read in detail. They don’t paint a picture of spontaneous and complete conversion though.
Seems like they have a fairly realistic pro-celibacy view, but of course the possiblity that you can be gay and Godly is rejected. They also allow for the possiblity of gay-to-straight change, and encourage soul-searching and picking apart one’s childhood to find the roots of one’s homosexuality.
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The website for the other one, RefoAnders, states clearly that they do NOT support “curing” homosexuals, and De Pers got it wrong. A news article explains Plasterk’s position: encouraging gay celibacy is no reason for government funding to be denied, encouraging a gay “cure” is, but RefoAnders does no such thing.
The language on their website sounds more natural and gay friendly than the slightly stilted language of Onze Weg. RefoAnders is a website for Reformed Christians, I don’t know if they’re a big cultural force outside of the Netherlands (maybe you can fill me in) but I know them as a very strict, very insular community.
In that light, RefoAnders strikes me as, dare I say it, fairly progressive. They seem to be all about enabling the church to talk about and acknowledge gay feelings, while still opposing gay sex or relationships.
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My opinion: RefoAnders: good guys, pro-celibacy group for persons of a particular religion; Onze Weg: bad guys, the usual ex-gay dodge-the-question style talk of “change”.
“I could have saved *thousands*, if only I could have convinced them they were slaves.”
Harriet Tubman’s response to a journalist who asked her how she was able to transport hundreds of slaves to freedom through the Underground Railroad.
Both Onze Weg and RefoAnders are foundation closely linked to Different – and that foundation is a member of Exodus International. They all claim to be Christian LGBT organizations, but they are not, because they do not have any members or real backing from christian LGBT’s.
Both Onze Weg and RefoAnders have a chairman who is gay – or is claiming to have ‘changed’ – and is now heterosexually married. Some role models… The daughter of the chairman of RefoAnders has been dismissed from the executive board because she is a lesbian and has a lesbian relationship. She was been replaced by straight reverends – all of them with a orthodox biblical view on homosexuality.
It’s really all politics, because Different is a foundation that is part of another orthodox christian organization headed by the former party HQ general manager of the ChristianUnion, the junior partner in our present government. They can only ‘agree’ on the progressive LGBT policies of the Social Democratic minister Plasterk if they get something in return: subsidies for organizations that stick to their orthodox views on homosexuality.
Practising homosexuals – as they call it – are not allowed to represent the ChristianUnion. There was a scandal last year when a lesbian local ChristianUnion politician came out of the closet and a few weeks ago a gay party member did the same in Amsterdam and had to step down as a member of the local executive board of the ChristianUnion.