Bush Invites ‘Ex-Gay' Activist to White House Ceremony;

[im10ashus]

Bush Invites ‘Ex-Gay' Activist to White House Ceremony; ‘Ex-Gay’ GroupRuns Youth Bootcamp, Equates Gays with Satan

Truth Wins Out will launch Wednesday at the National Press Club with dramatic personal stories from victims of "ex-gay" programs, and insights into how ex-gay theories are woven into the debate over gay marriage. The press conference will also expose the new Right-wing strategy to force "ex-gay" theories into classrooms.

President George W. Bush invited an "ex-gay" leader whose organization operates a questionable youth bootcamp, and equates gays with Satan, to his White House press conference in support of a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage.

Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, the nation's largest so-called "ex-gay" advocacy group, joined President Bush, conservative religious organizations and members of Congress at the White House today.

"It is unconscionable that President Bush would embrace a group that claims to 'pray away the gay'," said Wayne Besen, founder of Truth Wins Out, an organization that will combat "ex- gay" efforts. Does President Bush endorse youth bootcamps where underwear is confiscated to 'cure' people who are gay or lesbian?" asked Besen.

cont'd...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060605/pl_usnw/bush_invites____ex_gay__activist_to_white_house_ceremony_____ex_gay____groupruns_youth_bootcamp__equates_gays_with_satan157_xml&printer=1;_ylt=AlmDoXIfyKL0CgRKCUMTi1YJKekE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

[LynneSin]

1. 'pray away the gay'?

:spray:

[meegbear]

6. Pray for me LynneSin ...

I don't want to be a homosexual of the worst kind!

[LostinVA]

30. Praise Jeebus! I just gave my toaster oven away!

I'm calling up the local Mary Kay rep right now!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

32. Who'd you give it to? Just sending your gay to someone else, huh?

Not cool, dude, not cool.

[LostinVA]

38. At the Salvation Army, yet!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

40. You're sick.

I just gave mine to a local priest.

[LostinVA]

43. That's no fun

I ALMOST tossed it out at the protesters in front of Planned Parenthood... but that seemed a little too scaey...

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

44. I always laugh at the anti-choice protesters up here.

First of all, even though I live in a red county, it's still pretty damn socially liberal, so there aren't many protesters. The few that we do have are all too old to have kids.

[Avalux]

2. Disgusting. Vile. Pig.

Speaking in the name of the many, many gays I've worked with through the years, this is so offensive it's criminal. You can't pray away the gay and our government has no business promoting such bullshit.

[sui generis]

9. it is pretty funny though

too bad it doesn't work with combovers, fat asses and back taxes or republicans would be praying their asses off.

:rofl:

[Avalux]

11. That is so true!

I needed a laugh - thanks! :rofl:

[im10ashus]

19. Oh. My. GAWD!!!

That is hilarious! And a well needed laugh too.

:rofl:

[Ishoutandscream2]

3. MY GOD!!!!

What century do we live in again?

[n2doc]

4. Wonder if he'll beat Karl Rove with a racket?

Line 'em up, sir! I beat the Gay out of them!

:evilgrin:

[theHandpuppet]

5. Guys, I just can't take this anymore.

This hate is just too much. Will no one stand up to fight for us?

[im10ashus]

15. I feel the same way, theHandpuppet.

It's a really tough day for me. I feel like I am being kicked repeatedly in the head.

There are a few in the Senate that I hear standing up for us. Kennedy and Feingold being the 2 most vocal. There are others. We will make it through this.

:hug:

[Divine Discontent]

20. hold on.......

there's millions of us just like you. and when we hear "x-gay" we just laugh

I used to think when I was a teen I could pray away the gay, but then I realized

over many years, that Christ loves me for who I am, not the person others want me to be

they're so un-Christian it is sickening...

Christ is nothing like them and shame on their hatred.

we'll always have each other to rely on

someday, things will change



bless you hp!


www.cafepress.com/warisiprofitable <<<--- check it out - top pro-dem and anti-rep stickers & shirts

[gademocrat7]

7. What a sham

Innocent people have been and are being killed in Iraq. Katrina victims are still without homes. Our economy is spiraling downward and all shrub can do is bash gay and lesbians?

[Avalux]

10. Keeps the media occupied

and the machinations of Bushco to take over our country go unnoticed while we are distracted.

[StellaBlue]

8. I can't take it either - WHY ARE AMERICANS SO FUCKING STUPID?!?!?!?!?!

This would never have happened in Britain. God, I wish I could've stayed there. This makes me want to smash things. That's the theme for today, actually.

:argh:

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. They confiscate underwear?

What the hell for?

[Divine Discontent]

29. in the short article provided in the link ---

it says ---

"They took away my Calvin Klein underwear," said Wade Richards, who attended Exodus International's "Love in Action" retreat. Richards said camp counselors believed there "seemed to be more of a sex appeal (issue) for men to wear Calvin Klein that it would if they wore Fruit of the Loom."

Exodus' "Love In Action" has also offered training for women to apply lipstick and seminars on touch football for men.


this isn't a yahoo news article, is it? it doesn't have the grading at the bottom, and it has all the contact and information for reporters on where to go to report the meeting, on the top...

interesting.

[im10ashus]

33. It's a press release.

Posted on Yahoo.

[Divine Discontent]

39. ty!!!!! n/t

[im10ashus]

42. yw!

:-)

[Divine Discontent]

34. they probably

took them from him and masturbated with them... sorry, but taking his underwear implies a dirtier action by the taker, than him looking cute in his undies, I mean, what are they doing running around in their underwear anyhow, that they would say it has 'sex appeal'???

HELLO?????

[Jacobin]

13. Can they 'pray away the black', too?

I mean, now that they are on this open discriminatory rage against "anyone not like them", can't they get some fundie preachers to pray black people into white people?

Now that discrimination is 'all the rage' and so popular and all, why not just come right on out of that hate filled room and just let gawd make black people white?

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Hey that might solve the immigration problem too!

Change all those brown people into white people. Then they would be warmly welcomed here. :)

[theHandpuppet]

17. Ask the black pastors they put in the front row at Bush's speech

The ones who were applauding and giving this bigot the gladhand and a standing ovation. That was deliberate photo op stuff, of course, but it still hurt like hell.

[Jacobin]

21. They should be ashamed of themselves

They are NOT like any black pastors I've ever met.

I wonder where they find them.

[AndyTiedye]

37. They Have a Factory Somewhere Turning Them Out

[LostinVA]

31. You got it n/t

[Recursion]

16. I'm confused

To *discourage* homosexuality they put a bunch of adolescent boys in tents and take away their underwear?

I think somebody is missing the concept here...

[Divine Discontent]

26. LOLOLOLOL

exactly.... talk about making them feel free to experiment!

well, maybe that's what the people of this sick group wants, so they can purvey....

[nealmhughes]

18. The entire premise of "pray out the gay" hinges upon the premise

that one may "change." Let us be realistic: human sexuality is a continuum, not a black and white, odd or even, plus or minus thing. The fact that the President, as the Chief Executive, is giving a place at the dais of this repugnant group is odious. The appearnace of Bush with the ex-gays, or ex-ex-ex-gays NOT to denounce them, but to honor them means that he rejects basic Enlightenment concepts. The fact that the rabid right wing press will make a big whoohoo out of this will encourage the unenlightened to accept it as "partiotic." I shudder what the little boy or girl who is questioning their sexuality will think upon hearing that speech? Now not only has the snakehandling crew already condemned them to Hell, but now the government says you can't marry whom you wish and you can be fired from your job, be kicked out of your house and not allowed to be at your partner's side in hospital -- it must be because you are evil. You could just "choose to change." The president says so... Focus on the Family and Roy Moore say so...
One is reminded of Galileo: "And yet it moves..."

[Divine Discontent]

23. ya know.....

THIS is one of the actions by Bush that deserves swift and severe rebuke from everyone who's pro civil rights and a believer in caring about your fellow man!

you can't just have some hate group like the 'exodus' (hate even typing that because that is associated with a good thing that the Jews did in getting out of Egypt) group invited to the WHITE HOUSE and no one go off about it being a complete "fuck you!" to all who think differently.


Can DU have like - this is the call for the week - that the several thousand of us who are weekly posters, promise to make at some point calling their representative, their senators, and the white house

if we organized this just ONCE a week, I would gladly make my calls for each corresponding issue that I even remotely agreed upon just to do my part once a week.

anyhow, I'll be calling about this to Sen. Nelson regardless, and saying demand an apology from the White House for having a hate group be invited and just because your group says they love God and blah blah blah, it doesn't mean they live to the core principals of Christianity (Reverend Phelps for instance).

God bless you all, we're all hurting, this is sickening.......

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<--- check it out! top pro-dem anti-rep 06/08 stickers!

[tanyev]

22. Oooh, did he invite him to spend the night?????

[Divine Discontent]

25. well you know......

bush is probably an ex-gay himself.....

it fits the pedigree....

they're psycho about it, and that's a good indicator of repressed gay feelings, or an ex-gay who used to allow their natural feelings out.

but then again, the thought of him being gay makes my stomach hurt, no gay could be that f'ng stupid, could they?? of course, I've seen some of these ex-gays, so I guess it is a good way for everyone to understand that you can't tell who's gay for sure, and it's not that important ---



and, your marriage isn't going to be threatened if 2 guys get married down the road!


man they're cuckoo...

[David Zephyr]

24. I guess that Mary Cheney is hiding out again. What a piece of shit she is.

Shit.

[acmejack]

28. Oh she'll come out when it is safe.

Telling us how she silently mouthed "you SOB" at some Democrat or the other that she deemed responsible for some imagined slight to her sexuality. A chip off the old block, Ms. Mary is.

[im10ashus]

36. She makes me nauseous.

I can't stand her anymore than her heartless father.

[chat_noir]

27. a wee bit of scandal

Exodus International's first scandal occurred in 1979 when Michael Bussee (one of the five co-founding members who had helped organize the 1976 conference that led to Exodus' inception) left the group to be with Gary Cooper, a volunteer at the local Exodus ministry where they both worked, who was also volunteering for the first Exodus conference. Later they held a life commitment ceremony. Their story is one of the focuses of the documentary One Nation Under God (1993), directed by Teodoro Maniaci and Francine Rzeznik.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:TZeeTtDxHo8J:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exodus_(organization)+Exodus+International+scandal&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1

Exodus claims to helped "hundreds of thousands" of ex-gay men and lesbians, however the claim hasn't been certified by an independent audit. To date, Exodus has also declined to release any information on what the estimate is based upon, or how the program success rate is measured.

[wicket]

35. kick

:kick:

[knitter4democracy]

41. This infuriates me.

That a$$hole invites a sicko to a signing that shouldn't even be happening just to get bigots all happy for him again?!?!?! It's all political, just to shore up his base with the sliding numbers, and no one could ever convince me otherwise.

I'm going to start in on my house rep tomorrow, the only Republican representing me in Congress. I hate his staff (well, his receptionist is nice, but the others are horrible), but they're going to hear from me everyday this week. This cannot pass, cannot become law, cannot happen.

[theHandpuppet]

45. And this is Gay Pride Month, folks. No kidding.

The timing of all this is NOT accidental.

I really didn't think I was capable of hating anyone as much as I hate George Bush.

[Divine Discontent]

46. sad isn't it?

that you feel like you really do HATE the man???

I feel that hatred too, but I give it up to God. These people are so BIZARRO WORLD that's it's not funny. I agree 100% with the Newsweek article about this ammendment where a personal friend of his anonymously agreed to tell Newsweek if they held his name, that Bush doesn't ever talk about gays and could possibly not give a shit - that's what the anonymous friend of his said with anonymity!

be proud of who you are if you're gay is what I say... they think we're trying to shove it down their throats when we talk about being gay - it's because of SHIT like this that we do it!

take care handpuppet, you are truly in my prayers, I get so down about it all, too. we are made this way, we cannot change if we're gay!