Homosexuals Anonymous

Homosexuals Anonymous (HA), an ex-gay program based in Reading,
Pennsylvania, is a 14-step program modeled on Alcoholics Anonymous.
It was founded in 1980 by former Seventh-Day Adventist minister
Colin Cook, a charismatic leader who promoted his organization in
media appearances, including the Phil Donahue Show. HA believes
that homosexuality is “an illusion” that traps people in a
“false identity.” It also holds the view that “homosexual activity
is not in harmony with the will of God and that the universal
creation norm is heterosexuality.”

To the organizations credit, it does not engage in anti-gay
political activity or exploit controversial issues to increase
its membership. HA says it considers such activism
counterproductive because it shifts a client’ energies away
from pursuing heterosexuality. As a result of its apolitical
stance, HA has drawn relatively little criticism from GLBT
organizations, but has also lost media opportunities that
would lift the group’ profile.

HA is rather bold in its claims that gay people can turn heterosexual.
An advertisement for its annual 2007conference exclaims that the
event is for “All who seriously want freedom from homosexuality!”
Just like Exodus International, however, HA offers no statistics
or evidence supporting the efficacy of its program.

The organization suffered a meltdown in 1986 after it was revealed
that Colin Cook was giving clients nude massages to “desensitize”
them to the pleasures of male flesh. Cook told the Los Angles Times
that he “fell into the delusion” that such therapy was helping clients.
He also told the newspaper that, “I allowed myself to hug and hold
my counselees thinking I was helping them. But I needed it more than
they did.”

Looking for fresh start, Cook moved to Colorado in 1993 and almost
immediately got involved with anti-gay organizations. He worked with
Colorado for Family Values to pass Amendment 2, a referendum on a
state constitutional amendment prohibiting anti-discrimination laws
for gays and lesbians. However, his new career was cut short after it
was discovered he was engaging in inappropriate hugs and phone sex
with his clients.

“It’ like your Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor giving you a drink,”
one client remarked about Cook’ improper behavior.

Tragically, the failed organization has endured under the leadership
of “John J,” a man who once served time for sexually abusing boys.
HA continues to grow and has chapters in twenty states and the District
of Columbia, as well as one in Munich, Germany.

Exodus International, the notorious "ex-gay" organization, has just
released an iPhone app that, according to its website, is "designed
to be a useful resource for men, women, parents, students, and ministry
leaders." The Exodus website further boasts that its app received a 4+
rating from Apple, meaning that it contains "no objectionable content."

No objectionable content? We beg to differ. Exodus' message is hateful
and bigoted. They claim to offer "freedom from homosexuality through the
power of Jesus Christ" and use scare tactics, misinformation, stereotypes
and distortions of LGBT life to recruit clients. They endorse the use of
so-called "reparative therapy" to "change" the sexual orientation of their
clients, despite the fact that this form of "therapy" has been rejected by
every major professional medical organization including the American
Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the
American Counseling Association. But reparative therapy isn't just bad
medicine -- it's also very damaging to the self-esteem and mental health
of its victims.

This new iPhone app is the latest move in Exodus' dangerous new strategy
of targeting youth. In light of the recent wave of LGBT youth suicides,
this tactic is particularly galling as it creates, legitimizes, and fuels
the ostracism of LGBT youth by their families. According to a study
published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, LGBT teens
who experienced negative feedback from their family were 8 times more likely
to have attempted suicide, 6 times as vulnerable to severe depression, and
3 times more likely to use drugs (Caitlin Ryan, San Francisco State
University, June 2009).

Apple doesn't allow racist or anti-Semitic apps in its app store, yet it
gives the green light to an app targeting vulnerable LGBT youth with the
message that their sexual orientation is a "sin that will make your heart sick"
and a "counterfeit." This is a double standard that has the potential for
devastating consequences.

Apple needs to be told, loud and clear, that this is unacceptable.
Stand with Truth Wins Out -- demand that the iTunes store stop supporting
homophobia and remove the Exodus app.

Does God like the Japanese? 

By ELLIOT SPAGAT

Associated Press

EL CENTRO, Calif. (AP) - Chuck Storey ran for county clerk-recorder
in a remote, desert corner of southeast California on a pledge to
run a lean operation in churning out government documents like
property deeds, birth certificates and marriage licenses.

"Imperial County needs a businessman," he said during last year's campaign.

Less than two months in office, the low-key real estate agent became
something else: a very public face against gay marriage in California.
Storey asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month to let
him be the primary defendant in a lawsuit to uphold Proposition 8- if
a coalition of religious and conservative groups that sponsored the
measure is removed.

Though Storey represents a county that voted overwhelmingly to ban
gay marriage, his hometown critics say he was disingenuous when he
didn't raise his intentions earlier. Many voters thought the county's
role in the contentious issue ended Jan. 4 when the appeals court ruled
its board of supervisors and deputy clerk had no legal standing to defend
the ban.

Aaron Popejoy, president of the El Centro Chamber of Commerce, said the
new clerk didn't mention gay marriage, or give any hint of the legal
bombshell he was about to drop, at a Rotary Club lunch Feb. 24, the day
before he stepped into the lawsuit.

"I'm a little disappointed that he would open up this can of worms for us,"
said Popejoy. "It's one of those huge red flags that draw the wrong kind of
attention to our community. We need to be a little more warm and welcoming."

The Imperial Valley Press editorialized that Storey was inviting misguided
stereotypes that the region is "bad or backward"- the kind of attention it
got after becoming the only California county that tried to defend the
marriage ban in 2009.

"We can't think of one bit of good to come out of this effort in retrospect.
It was a waste of time, energy and was damaging to the county's reputation.
And it's happening again thanks to one self-aggrandizing man in Storey,"
the newspaper wrote.

Storey's supporters note that 69.7 percent of county voters approved
Proposition 8 in 2008. They say he is protecting voters' wishes, unlike
former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Attorney General and current
Gov. Jerry Brown and other elected officials who refused to defend the
measure.

They also say the lifelong El Centro resident didn't hide his views. His
campaign website touted his membership at El Centro's Christ Community Church,
whose members were known to promote Proposition 8.

"I don't know why anyone should be surprised," said Dennis Freeman, 50,
an associate pastor at Storey's church. "All Chuck's trying to do is say ...
'This is what the people voted for, so let's see if we can give them
what they want.'"

Storey, 57, declined to answer questions or be photographed by
The Associated Press.

"People are trying to take things out of context and I'm not going to
get into it," the graying, bespectacled widower and father of three
said in a brief phone conversation.

In his court filing, Storey wrote that he was in a bind over whether to
obey voters' wishes as amended in the state constitution or a ruling by
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker that found the measure unconstitutional.
He said he was concerned that Walker's decision "would create significant
confusion for me and other Imperial County deputy clerks and officials in
the performance of our legal duties regarding marriage."

Imperial, a county of 175,000 people that is battling 25 percent unemployment,
is known more for its churches than nightclubs. The nearest gay bars are across
the border in Mexicali, Mexico. There are no gay advocacy groups.

Lisa Solomon, a history instructor at Imperial Valley College who counts
herself as one of four openly gay faculty members on a staff of about 250,
says there aren't many social options for single women like herself.

"If you aren't attached, you're sort of in a no man's land," said Solomon, 50,
who has tried without success to organize a campus group to promote
tolerance of gays.

Phil Valenzuela, a 38-year old pharmacy technician in El Centro, has seen
gay advocacy groups fizzle over the years due to lack of interest.

"We'll actually have a few meetings," he said. "They never go anywhere."
County supervisors voted 3-2 in December 2009 to defend Proposition 8
after Supervisor Wally Leimgruber got in touch with Advocates for
Faith & Freedom, a Murieta law firm that, according to its website,
fights court rulings "that have created a society increasingly devoid
of the message and influence of God." The firm represented the county
for free.

Last August, the board voted 4-1 to join the appeal after the measure
was struck down.

"I don't believe in strange-sex marriage," said Leimbruger, a farmer
who has been married 36 years. "I believe marriage is between one
man and one woman."

Dolores Provencio, then clerk-recorder, resisted pressure to join the lawsuit.
She said in an interview that she felt same-sex marriage was allowed under
California law and declared it "a matter of tolerance."

Provencio, who estimates her office issued about 50 same-sex marriage
licenses when the practice was briefly allowed in 2008, didn't seek
another term after a 31-year run, leaving the field wide open.

Storey, the brother of a former Imperial County district attorney,
ran as an outsider who would clean up an office that he said was
plagued by inefficiency and bad employee morale. His only previous
public involvement noted on his campaign website was a six-year
stint on the El Centro Planning Commission.

He took office as county clerk-recorder the day before the appeals
court ruled the county had no legal standing.

Leimgruber and another supervisor who supported the county's involvement
in the lawsuit lost bids to remain in office. The new board had no
appetite to continue the fight.

Gail Pellerin, president of the California Association of Clerks and
Election Officials, knows of no other county clerks who have expressed
interest in defending Proposition 8.

Imperial County supervisors say Storey is on his own. He is being
represented by Advocates for Faith & Freedom at no charge.

"We were not involved in any way, shape or form," said Supervisor
Gary Wyatt, who has opposed the county's involvement. "It's a case of
an individual who happens to be the clerk-recorder."

Supervisor Jack Terrazas, who has supported the county's involvement,
said the court appeared to say the clerk is the only official who has
a chance to prevail.

"He took the door that was left open and went right through it," Terrazas said.
"If I were in that position, I might have taken the same door."

You need to go to AZWIT -  www.azwit.org

They think, they are so perfect.