Where are they?

The Standard of Liberty Voice
For God,Religion,Family,Freedom
A publication of The Standard of Liberty Foundation
www.standardofliberty.org
December 14, 2006, #29

Where Are They?
– why we aren't hearing from those who have changed from homosexuality

“Where are they? Where are they?” This question was recently asked on a highly advertized local TV news special report, “Married, Gay, Mormon,” by a man who left his wife and children to live a homosexual lifestyle. He was challenging the idea that homosexuality can be changed. If it can, he said, we should be hearing from people in the LDS community who have done it. He’s right that we aren’t hearing from them. But he says it’s because they do not exist, and that’s where he’s wrong.

Having been through this nightmare several years ago with our son who chose to correct wrong thinking and overcome same sex sexual attraction with faith and professional therapy, and seeing the need to share this essential good news, I think we are qualified to answer this man’s question.

In the last few years we have made a good effort to tell our story. Given the openly gay-accepting culture we now live in, it is not surprising that we have been largely ignored, rejected, or silenced by all forms of media. For instance, while the man mentioned above (and many others like him) got his spot on TV, our spot was cancelled. Yes, many months ago a news crew came to our house and filmed an hour-long interview with our son and then another hour with Dr. Jeff Robinson, the brilliant clinical therapist who helped him. It was never aired. While the gay-affirming view is regularly given plenty of attention, so far our side is given none. If we’re given any excuse it is that the topic is “too controversial.” From this we can assume that only the hopeful, helpful, moral view of the issue is considered unacceptable.

That’s not all. We have had radio interviews scheduled but cancelled at the last minute. Newspaper op-eds have been stalled and finally rejected (which rejection included some very rude remarks toward us personally). Publishers rejected our manuscript glowingly endorsed by top professional experts. So we printed the book ourselves and got a few LDS stores to order it because of the scheduled TV spot (which as I said was eventually cancelled). Soon we were invited (along with all other authors) to participate in an advertizing campaign at our own expense. We prepared our flier and were approved, only to have this approval suddenly rescinded. This treatment was outrageous and unprofessional, and smelled of the worst kind of political correctness. Their lame excuse was that they didn’t want us to waste our money because they were sure we wouldn’t sell very many books – as if they care or know anything about our financial situation. Applications for inclusion in catalogs, again, at our own expense, have been repeatedly turned down. We have also been rejected for participation in book signings, told that books on other issues are more important. (Tell that to orthodox LDS parents of kids being lured into homosexuality.) We have had reports that potential customers visiting these stores asking for our book were told it was not available. Finally, in the last few months our book has been removed from the store’s web site, in-store data bases, and shelves. I could ask the same question, “Where are they?” meaning copies of my book telling the story of a young man who rooted out and overcame homosexual thoughts and feelings.

In addition, because of our web site exposing dangerous cultural trends to legitimize and celebrate homosexual ideologies and behaviors and supplying hope and resources for preventing and overcoming homosexuality, we have been the recipients of extensive ad hominem attacks. (We do not respond to these. Click here to see a list of the names we have been called.) Some of these have come from the most unexpected places within the LDS community. Support, endorsements, and invitations to make presentations have been offered and then withdrawn by organizations which are generally believed to share our orthodox position. We have been slandered, misrepresented, and accused of “in your face” tactics and “trying to make a name for ourselves.” In our own local community, school, and school district, we have had presentations cancelled, our freedom of speech restricted, and our parental rights and concerns disregarded. I even got hung up on by an angry high school administrator!

The answer to this man’s question, “where are they?” is this. Everywhere. In a few select venues, such as the evangelical Christian organization Exodus International, the Catholic organization Courage, and the Jewish organization Jonah, they are given a voice. You can hear marvelous testimonies of human lives debased, then cleansed and remade. Inspiring DVDs have been produced containing such testimonials called “I Do Exist” and “Choosing to Change from Homosexuality.” But as I’ve said, in largely all mainstream venues these voices are silenced.

Those who have turned away from homosexuality are silenced in a similar way that the voices of women who regret having abortions are silenced. Silent No More is an organization that educates about options to abortion, exposes the truth about the pain and suffering experienced by real women who had abortions, and shares a message of hope and forgiveness through Christ. The media will not allow this worldview, so Silent No More took to the streets. They have shared their message in over a hundred street gatherings with 12,000 people so far. Good for them.

When it comes to the LDS community, the answer to the question “where are the ex-homosexuals?” is this. They are all around us leaving their shameful and unhappy past behind them and moving on with their lives. The brave ones and their families who feel a Christian responsibility to expose the sordid homosexual lifestyle for what it truly is and testify of success in extricating themselves from it are not being allowed a voice on any significant LDS societal scale. At this time, people willing to share success experiences of healing and change when it comes to homosexual tendencies have practically been forced underground. Whatever the reasons, this should be unacceptable to anyone who truly cares about God, his fellow man, and freedom.

At this time my book, My Darling from the Lions, is available only from us at tidalwavebooks.com, and a very few independent bookstores. Our son’s new book, Captain of My Soul, in the last stages of production, will likely share the same fate if things remain the same.

Here’s the real question, and it’s a loaded one: Why are self-proclaimed permanent homosexuals given a public voice while self-proclaimed ex-homosexuals are silenced? Or: Why is the sexual revolutionist type of personal experience embraced and the traditional morality/religious type of personal experience rejected? What does this tell us about what human society now values?

-Stephen & Janice Graham

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