Love In Action
Love In Action, America's oldest established member of Exodus International, an international ex-gay, Christian ministry program, was founded in 1973 by Frank Worthen, John Evans, and Kent Philpott. At the time, the program claimed to be able to successfully 'cure' individuals of their sinful addiction to homosexuality. Shortly after the program's founding, Kent Philpott wrote The Third Sex?, in which he described the 'successful' techniques he used to achieve the conversion of six men from homosexuality to heterosexuality. However, he was forced to remove the book from the market after only a short time due to civil suits filed by several of the men he referred to in the book, claiming that he lied about them and that his methods were unsuccessful.
One of the original founders of the group, John Evans, left the group after its founding when his best friend committed suicide after his failure to convert to heterosexuality. Evans later went on to denounce the group, being quoted by the Wall Street Journal in 1993 as saying, "They're destroying people's lives. If you don't do their thing, you're not of God, you'll go to hell. They're living in a fantasy world."
In 2005, Evans again spoke against the organization after several controversies came to light regarding their relatively new youth program Refuge. In a letter to the director of Love In Action, John Smid, he tried to reason that like with so many other issues, Christianity has often condemned some action as sinful, only to later reinterpret the bible differently in a way that no longer condemns such actions.
The organization's Refuge program was an ex-gay reparative therapy program aimed serving at young adults and teenagers. The program only lasted several years, and was officially ended in June of 2007 as a result of several controversies that plagued the program. One of the most notable controversies involved a 16 year old boy named Zach Stark, who was forced by his parents to attend the Refuge program against his will. He made several posts on his personal Myspace page, one of which included an exhaustive list of the rules he was expected to follow as a Refuge participant. After his friends read about what was happening to him, they spread his posts, and soon Stark had thousands of supporters around the country and the world calling for his release. Stark stayed in the program for eight weeks, but has since accepted his homosexuality and appeared in the documentary This Is What Love In Action Looks Like.
Trailer for the Documentary 'This Is What Love In Action Looks Like' Media:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLaBkiP0-nA
The list of rules that Stark posted included categories of rules like Sobriety, Hygiene, Therapeutic Issues, False Image Concerns, Campus Rules, Relationship Issues, Safekeeping Rules, Rules for the Home, On-level Rules, Group Norms, Men/Women Dynamics, Program Expectations, and Parental Rules. One example of a Hygiene rule is one that states,
"1. All clients must maintain appropriate hygiene, including daily showering, use of deodorant, and brushing teeth twice daily.
Men: Men must remove all facial hair seven days weekly, and sideburns must not fall below the top of the ear (the top of the ear is defined as where the ear meets the face below the temple). Clean business-like haircuts must be worn at all times. Hair must be long enough to be pinched between two fingers.
Women: Women must shave legs and underarms at least twice weekly.
All: Only natural hair color is allowed. Hair that is colored, highlighted or streaked, must be dyed back to its original color, or the color must be cut out before entrance into the Refuge program."
False Image Concerns were explained by the rule which stated, "1. LIA wants to encourage each client, male and female, by affirming his/her gender identity. LIA also wants each client to pursue integrity in all of his/her actions and appearances. Therefore, any belongings, appearances, clothing, actions, or humor that might connect a client to an inappropriate past are excluded from the program. These hindrances are called False Images (FI’s). FI behavior may include hyper-masculinity, seductive clothing, mannish/boyish attire (on women), excessive jewelry (on men), mascoting, and “campy” or gay/lesbian behavior and talk."
Participants in the Refuge program were also required to leave their bedroom doors open at all times of the day and night, were only permitted a one-time per day 15 minute maximum closed door time in the bathroom to shower, were not allowed to view secular media of any kind, and were never allowed to communicate with other participants in private.
In the years since 1973, due to repeated social scientific studies concluding that true conversion from one sexual orientation to another is impossible, Love In Action and other Ex-Gay Reparative Therapy programs have shifted the content of their claims away from literal conversion of sexual orientation to suppression of sinful tendencies. According to Love In Action's website, the Christian doctrine that they follow states:
- We believe that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of God: perfect truth from cover to cover and pointing to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
- We believe in one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- We believe that for salvation of lost and sinful persons, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and regeneration by the Holy Spirit is essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling presence the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life eternal.
- We believe that scripture is the final truth and authority in all matters of morality, as well as the solution for hope and healing in every dilemma.
- We acknowledge the sinfulness of any sexual act outside of the scriptural context of Holy Matrimony between a man and a woman.
- We uphold and celebrate Jesus Christ’s offer of redemption and freedom to all that come to Him.
While ex-gay reparative therapy programs have lessened the blatant claim that true conversion is possible, they still claim large 'success' rates of allowing people to 'escape the temptations of same sex attraction'. Exodus International, Love In Action's international counterpart and parent organization, claims on their website that 'success' rates between 30%-50% are common. They do, however, admit that "'success rates' vary considerably and the measurement of change is problematic."
