The old proverb said, “A Leopard
cannot change his spots.” There are certain things that are
intrinsic to a creatures being things that they cannot change. There
is nothing a Leopard can do about his spots, he can't change the
color of them, the number of them or the arrangement of them.
Likewise there are certain intrinsic characteristics to us as human
beings that we cannot change.
Exodus international was perhaps the
first and largest supporters of conversion therapy. They supported
conversion therapy for both homosexuality and transgender
individuals. So their recent decision to close came somewhat of a
shock to me. Exodus international has stated that just like our
leopard, there are somethings that are intrinsic to a person over
which they have no power to change.
One of Exodus International's
co-founders Michael Bussee issued an apology for his involvement in
promoting orientation change through Exodus. Also apologizing were
Jeremy Marks, former president of Exodus International Europe, and
Darlene Bogle, the founder of Paraklete Ministries, an Exodus
referral agency. The apology stated in part "Some who heard our
message were compelled to try to change an integral part of
themselves, bringing harm to themselves and their families." In
April 2010, Bussee stated, "I never saw one of our members or
other Exodus leaders or other Exodus members become heterosexual, so
deep down I knew that it wasn’t true."
Coleman and Drescher argue that a
preponderance of evidence demonstrates that homosexuality is not
changeable. Drescher argues that "the sum of all the literature
does not indicate that [reparative therapeutic techniques] are
effective."
In January 2012 then- president of
Exodus International Alan Chambers, during his address to a Gay
Christian Network conference, stated that 99.9% of conversion therapy
participants do not experience any change to their sexuality and
apologized for the previous Exodus slogan "Change Is Possible"
Chambers stated that his next ministry
would be different: "Our goals are to reduce fear and come
alongside churches to become safe, welcoming and mutually
transforming communities. What a change, someone that supported
attempts to change the LBGT community is now considering helping
churches to become welcoming and supportive to the LBGT communities.
Some changes are possible such as this, that an organization (or a
person) finally accepts the truth and allows that truth to change
their attitudes and goals.
During my long struggle with being
transgender I used to often read about Exodus International or hear
them on some radio program. I heard several transgender individuals
give their testimony about how they were cured and made well. This
of course just reinforced my thoughts about how wrong this was and
added to my sense of guilt. I'd hear the stories of a transgender
individual that would say they were now a happy well adjusted normal
person (what is normal anyhow) and I would wonder why that
couldn't happen to me. I must say that it wasn't Exodus
International that caused me to resist and suppress being transgender
for so long, it was just one more pressure on me to conform, to
change. I've written before about the years of suppression and
those results.
Just like the leaders of Exodus I had
to come to the truth that there is something intrinsic to who I am
that I cannot change. It didn't come overnight nor easily but I was
finally able to come to terms with the female in me and work with it
instead of against it. For in working against it I was working
against myself. Now as I work with my nature and make allowance for
it I find a closeness and a dependability on God that I never had
before.
Of course you know that there are a
number of organizations that have made there disappointment with
Exodus International clear. I read the response of an Exodus spin
off claim that Exodus International lost their focus and their God
given purpose. I can imagine that there are individuals from my
former Christian circles that believe the same about me. Some might
even believe that I've left Christianity altogether. I have started
attending a different church because of my situation today. Not long
ago I read what someone stated about the church I've been attending,
that they “have left the clear teaching of the Bible.” (I
would like to state for the record that what that usually means is
the clear teaching of the Bible according to the interpretation of
their favorite religious figure.) I
liked the response of a member who said that they stand for being
Christ-ian. What I've learned is that being Christian does not
necessarily mean being christ-like. I've long stated that sometimes
childlikeness is the most missing thing in the church today. It is
this Christ-likeness that has enabled me to finally come to terms
with being transgender and being a Christian. I spent most of my
Bible reading time in the four gospels, I want to know Christ, what
he was like, how would he respond, how did he love?
There
are many voices in Christian circles that will tell us how we've lost
our focus, lost our purpose and left the clear teaching of the Bible.
But it comes to my mind that the church of the day and good church
going people of the day were convinced that Jesus was evil itself.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
