In what appears to be a preemptive move, Alan Chambers has posted what he says is an expanded version of the apology he will give tomorrow night on Our America with Lisa Ling. This apology is deeper than any offered so far, and seems to indicate a man whose views are in flux, with comments like “[t]oday it is as if I’ve just woken up to a greater sense of how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church.”
He also laments his deception concerning his own “change” saying, “[t]here were several years that I conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions. I was afraid to share them as readily and easily as I do today. They brought me tremendous shame and I hid them in the hopes they would go away.”
We have been told that what happened during the taping of the show was quite visceral. Alan himself mentions changes they will announce on the show that will be of some importance. Could this be about drastic changes to Exodus, or the shuttering of the organization altogether?
The apology is worth reading and the show worth watching. It airs tomorrow night, June 20, at 10 EDT on the OWN network.
What do you think?
I saw this news on the BTB first so I would just echo the thought I left there; If Alan reads these comments I want to thank him for issuing this apology. There are other leaders, who are still a part of the ex-gay industry, who are refusing to acknowledge the damage that is done by these sexual orientation change efforts and the damage that is done to families by theories that claim that bad parenting caused the individual to be gay. These other leaders cling to ideology in spite of the damage done and now attack Alan for admitting the truth. So I am truly grateful and happy to see this apology and the changes at Exodus and I look forward to hearing more.
This comment (which I first read on Kathy Verbiest Baldock’s webpage) did not sit well with me: “[t]oday it is as if I’ve just woken up to a greater sense of how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church.”
Still calling me a sinner. Still tone deaf. An important step, agreed, but between this and his other disclaimer about not apologizing for his belief in biblical proscriptions on (not specifically named) sexual expression I tend to think that the only thing that has changed is that he’s promising to keep his bigoted opinions to himself. I see nothing here to suggest that he actually sees me, or any LGBTQ, with anything approaching actual respect.
In brief – I don’t trust him. Will Exodus be disbanded? Will he make a career of restitution to counter the harm he’s done? Or are these just some pretty words so he can sink into the woodwork and not face the lifetime of penance he needs to do before I will believe that any of this is sincere.