Ex-gay movement "in decline"

Gay Christian advocate Anthony Venn-Brown says the latest statement from the leader of an ex-gay movement - that no-one can alter their sexuality - is a sign the movement is on the way out.

On January 6 during a panel discussion at the Gay Christian Network’s annual conference in Orlando, Florida, Alan Chambers, president of "ex-gay" group Exodus confessed that the overwhelming majority of those who had undergone “ex-gay” therapy had not changed their sexual orientation.

Exodus International is a religion-based group withe branches world-wide; the organisation was set up in the belief that through prayer and therapy gays and lesbians can turn straight.

"The majority of people that I have met, and I would say the majority meaning 99.9 percent of them, have not experienced a change in their orientation or have gotten to a place where they could say that they could never be tempted or are not tempted in some way or experience some level of same-sex attraction," Chambers said.

"In December 2011 Christian World Magazine named Alan Chambers, director of Exodus (the world’s largest ex-gay organisation), Daniel of the Year in recognition of his stand against homosexuality," Venn-Brown said.

"The unthinkable happened [this month], when Chambers ... admitted that no-one he knew had changed their sexual orientation."

Venn-Brown, the founder of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International and himself the survivor of an "ex-gay" movement, said the evolution of attitudes of such groups away from believeing sexual orientation can change has been slow.

"There have been three main phases the ex-gay group has evolved through," he said.

"First it preached the supernatural miracle of gay to straight, then it went into a therapeutic model and the last phase has been to give people the option of celibacy or being in a heterosexual marriage; knowing there is always the potential to ‘fall’.”

Venn-Brown (pictured) said Chambers' admission that people don't change their sexuality was encouraging but wasn't enough.

“We want groups like Exodus to either completely redefine themselves or cease to exist. But no one jumps overnight from anti-gay to gay affirming. It can take years,” he said.

“We have seen many ex-gay leaders both overseas and in Australia come out and some have apologized for their past involvement.”

“As any person involved in working for gay rights knows, some things are inevitable. The decline and eventual non-existence of these groups is one of those. The question is, what can we do to hasten the day?” Venn-Brown said.