FRC's Sprigg Defends "Ex-Gay" Flyers In Maryland
from Equality Matters
Earlier this month, reports surfaced that the ex-gay group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) had been distributing flyers to students at high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland. In response to the news, Montgomery County school superintendent Joshua Starr called the flyers reprehensible and deplorable, adding that he found PFOX's message to be really, really disgusting.
On Tuesday, Peter Sprigg, a PFOX board member and Senior Fellow at the anti-gay Family Research Council (FRC), came to the flyers defense. In a column for The Washington Times, Sprigg criticized Starr for condemning the flyers, asserting that PFOX isnt actually anti-gay:
The controversy arose not because of its relatively innocuous content, but because of its source: an organization called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, or PFOX. The flier states, Every year, thousands of people with unwanted same-sex attractions make the personal decision to leave a gay identity, and asserts that such people should be able to seek help and information on overcoming their feelings.
Perhaps the flier triggered anger because it calls into question a widespread myth - that people are born gay. Yet even the American Psychological Association (APA) has admitted, [N]o findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors.
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Ex-gay therapy has been widely rejected by mainstream medical organizations including the APA for being both ineffective and potentially harmful. Even current and former members of the ex-gay movement have admitted that altering ones sexual orientation is extremely difficult, if not impossible. Unfortunately, none of that has deterred Sprigg from speaking at ex-gay conferences or boldly declaring that zero people are born gay.
Spriggs claim that PFOX isnt anti-gay is doubtful. Sprigg himself is a frequent promoter of anti-gay smears, including the myth that gay men molest children at higher rates than straight men. PFOXs president, Greg Quinlan, recently accused gays and lesbians of sexual cannibalism. In 2010, he proudly declared that he wasnt a flaming faggot before becoming ex-gay.
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