by Greg Quinlan

What happens when ex-gays dare to come out of the closet?  When I helped staff the exhibit booth for the Ex-Gay Educators Caucus at the National Education Association conference in June 2006, Wayne Besen, the former spokesperson for the gay Human Rights Campaign, approached our booth and began to insult us for having the audacity to live as heterosexuals.  He took photos of our booth for his ex-gay bashing website which targets the ex-gay community for ridicule and harassment.  Mr. Besen and gay rights organizations do not believe ex-gays are entitled to the same rights and respect that gays currently enjoy.  They picket ex-gay conferences and protest vigorously against ex-gay equal access. 

             In his continuing zeal to discredit the ex-gay community, Besen likes to bully ex-gays by insisting that we still look "gay."  When he was Director of Communications for the Human Rights Campaign, Besen delighted in telling me to "butch up" so "normal people" wouldn't think I'm still "gay."  See his emails for yourself at http://pfox.org/Human-Rights-Campaign-Hate-Against-Ex-Gays.pdf

               At the conference, Besen stuck his finger in my face and called me a "fu*king faggot," "fu*king cocksucker," "fu*king fag bastard," "fu*king nellie fairy," and so on.  I guess he skipped the tolerance class where school kids learn to appreciate diversity and gays.  "You're still having gay sex," he yelled at me.  We had to call security to escort him out of the convention hall because we were scared for our safety.   

               Hate against ex-gays like me is all too common.  What's going to happen when Congress passes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and national Hate Crimes Act for gays, as Obama has promised?  With their hate officially protected by law, gay rights groups will force ex-gays into the closet.  Homosexuals will determine heterosexuality by censoring any ex-gay speech or behavior they disagree with as "hateful," "discriminatory," "intimidation," "bullying," "dangerous," or leading to "spiritual and physical violence."  We know because this is what they already label us.  Fighting "hate" and "discrimination" against gays has become a euphemism for attacks against ex-gays and their supporters.

Think twice, America.  Do you want to give gay activists like Besen the right to hate under the guise of a "civil rights" protection?  Besen has now aligned himself with Lambda Legal, the nation's oldest and largest attorneys group "working for the civil rights of lesbians and gay men."  Lambda Legal has offices and lawyers across the country.  

While you still can, please stand up for the equal rights of the ex-gay community.  Unpopular minorities like former homosexuals deserve the right to be free and out in society.  The violence and hate spewed against heterosexuals after they voted against genderless marriage last fall is proof that a politically powerful and wealthy group like homosexuals can scare us into silence.  Let's not be silent.

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See http://pfox.org/about_us.html for more information about the ex-gay community.

Greg Quinlan is a director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX).  Mr. Quinlan is available for media interviews at 804-453-4737 or p-fox@pfox.org