Love Won Out pitches tent here
by Colleen Keating
02-23-2006

You may have seen them driving on I-44 or I-55 — beaming faces on signs that proclaim “I questioned homosexuality.” The signs — at least one of them now defaced — are part of ex-gay umbrella organization Exodus International’s promotional campaign to support their upcoming “Love Won Out” conference, to be held Feb. 25 at Evangelical Free Church.

Love Won Out is a ministry of Focus on the Family, a Christian organization chaired by James Dobson. They are working with Exodus to put together the conference, now in its eighth year. It is controversial for its claims that “homosexuality is preventable and treatable,” an assertion that most medical professionals consider dubious.

The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the American Counseling Association, as well as others, have all issued strong warnings against the idea that homosexuality is pathological or able to be “cured.”

Still, panel members at this conference are claiming to provide a way out of “unwanted homosexuality.” Among them are Nancy Heche, actress Anne Heche’s mother; Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International and self-proclaimed former homosexual; and Bill Maier, Focus on the Family’s Vice President and Psychologist in Residence. Chambers recently spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he said that “lifelong homosexual partnerships are not possible,” and characterized the gay “lifestyle” as “a never ending cycle of cravings and nourishment ... an endless treadmill of faceless encounters, broken hearts and unmet dreams.”

Ken Haller, an out pediatrician at Cardinal Glennon hospital in St. Louis, disagrees: “There’s nothing in the medical literature to suggest that gay or lesbian persons are any better or worse at commitment and monogamy than our heterosexual cohorts. Indeed, the large numbers of long-term same-sex couples who have endured and thrived despite the many ways our society tries to tear them apart is proof that lesbian and gay persons are quite good at making and keeping commitments even under the most difficult of circumstances.”

Love Won Out has sponsored conferences in locations such as Boston where the events were met with large scale protests. Here in St. Louis, a wide variety of groups, from the Gateway Stonewall Democrats to Dignity USA (a Catholic organization) to local gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) student organizations are planning a “Love Needs No Cure” vigil the day of the conference.

The night of Feb. 14, after a local news channel featured Evangelical Free Church in a spot devoted to the conference, the church was egged. Focus on the Family quickly ran a press release speculating that “gay activists” were probably involved.

Gene Monitz, a pastor at Evangelical Free, said that the church has not contacted the police and is not pursuing the vandals. He added that the people who threw the eggs “don’t represent the gay community any more than people holding up gay-hating signs represent us.” Still, his church issued a statement noting that the egging shows “those who talk the loudest about tolerance seem the least able to exhibit it.”

As of Feb. 21, the Love Won Out billboard along I-44 East near the Hampton exit appeared to have been splattered with paint. It’s not yet known who is responsible.

The Rev. Dr. Deborah A. Lawson, of the GLBT-welcoming Immanuel Congregational Church, says, “We do not challenge this group’s [Focus on the Family’s] inherent right to gather or to provide information for those interested.” What she has a problem with is the “harmful misinformation and bias” the conference provides.

Rev. Sue Yarber, of the Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St. Louis adds, “If we truly embrace the concept of ‘Love Won Out’ then we will accept that God created, loves and not only accepts but affirms God’s own gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender children.”

And those billboards along the highways? They are rented out at around $3,500 each by CBS Outdoors, a publicly traded company which, until Jan. 3, 2006 was part of the Viacom corporation. Viacom still distributes Logo, a GLBT cable channel.

“Whether you agree with the Exodus message or not, the outdoor billboards fall within the confines of good taste,” says Jodi Senese, the EVP of Marketing for CBS Outdoors. Senese said CBS Outdoors also rents space to InteractiveMale.com, a gay phone chat service, which has a billboard on Delmar.

The conference costs $50 in advance and $60 at the door. Registration is required and is open to those 18 and up. More information can be found at www.LoveWonOut.com and www.Family.org.

You can e-mail Colleen Keating at ck.write@gmail.com.

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