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(St. Louis, Missouri) Hundreds of gay rights demonstrators protested in front of a suburban St. Louis church where the so-called ex-gay movement was holding a rally.
Inside the First Evangelical Free Church about 1,500 people each paid $50 to attend the 'Love Won Out' conference organized by the conservative groups Focus on the Family and Exodus International.
The audience was mostly made up of people aged 40 and over and mainly parents and family members of gays and area clergy.
Speakers used facts and figures to attempt to back up their claims that homosexuality is a matter of choice than can be altered. At no time was the audience told that the material already had been discredited by the American Psychiatric Association and the American Psychological Association.
Other speakers claimed to have been "cured" of their homosexuality by prayer and by intervention by "ex-gay" groups.
One of the speakers, Melissa Fryrear, said she had been "saved" from her lesbianism. She said that often homosexuality is the result of a fractured parent child relationship or sexual abuse.
"Ever wonder why some lesbians look mannish?" she asked the audience. "It’s a vulnerability to be a woman. That suit of armor to keep you from being hurt."
Speakers also promoted books and other material on sale at the conference, including a $50 boxed set called "Male Homosexuality Package," that included books called "Coming out of Homosexuality" and "You Don’t Have to Be Gay."
Some opponents of the so-called ministry were among the audience.
"What I’m hearing instead is, ‘We’ll really love you more if you will change,’" Meredith Anderson, a student at a United Church of Christ seminary told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
"What makes me so angry is that a lot of clergy and straight folks aren’t speaking out about this."
Anderson pointed out that the UCC considers itself a gay welcoming denomination and supports same-sex marriage.
Outside, protestors carried signs that read 'God Made Me Gay', and 'Love Needs No Cure'.
"Telling a person who is struggling to integrate their sexuality with their spirituality that they must change to be loved or loveable or even to be loved by God is such a hostile damaging act. Love is unconditional or is not love at all," said Sam Sinnett, President of DignityUSA.
Dr. Mark Pope, a professor of Counseling and Family Therapy at the University of Missouri–Saint Louis, condemned the conference by saying, "The organizers of Love Won Out state that homosexuality is preventable and treatable. They are trying to confuse science and religion. But you can't prevent or treat something that isn't a disease." He noted that the American Psychological Association has stated that "the potential risks of 'reparative therapy' are great, including depression, anxiety and self-destructive behavior."
Nearby as conference attendees filed out of the church a group of young women chanted, "Two-Four-Six-Eight, how do you know your wife is straight?"
©365Gay.com 2006
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