GUEST SPEAKER: Gabriel Arana On ‘My So-Called Ex-Gay Life’ 4/27
Apr.25, 2012 by Luke in
Uncategorized
This Friday we will be joined by Gabriel Arana, web editor of The American Prospect, who recently wrote ”My So-Called Ex-Gay Life.”
In the article, he recounts his experiences with ex-gay therapy, which he underwent during high school after his parents discovered he was gay. He also reports on the ex-gay movement, and talks to Robert Spitzer, the author of a 2001 study claiming that the therapy worked. Spitzer, interestingly, also led the effort to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. In his visit with him, Spitzer renounces the study.
Today, news broke that Spitzer apologized for the study.
Join us at 8:30 Friday at St. Margaret’s. Afterwards, as always, we will go out for dinner.
Read the article, it’s a gut-wrenching personal essay combined with reporting on the ex-gay movement. Here’s an excerpt:
Early in my freshman year of high school, I came home to find my mom sitting on her bed, crying. She had snooped through my e-mail and discovered a message in which I confessed to having a crush on a male classmate.“Are you gay?” she asked. I blurted out that I was.“I knew it, ever since you were a little boy.”Her resignation didn’t last long. My mom is a problem solver, and the next day she handed me a stack of papers she had printed out from the Internet about reorientation, or “ex-gay,” therapy. I threw them away. I said I didn’t see how talking about myself in a therapist’s office was going to make me stop liking guys.
Read it here: http://prospect.org/article/my-so-called-ex-gay-life
Discussion for Friday the 13th will have two parts. The first we will share gay horror stories–whether you have a real-life story of a bad date gone really creepy, heard about an unlucky incident that happened to a friend of a friend, or a poor, unfortunate gay soul you’ve read about or seen on TV or in a movie.
Gay District is a community-based organization focused on building understanding of gay culture and personal identity, awareness of community events and civil rights for gay, bi, trans, queer, questioning and intersexed (GBTQQI) men between the ages of 18 and 35 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Empowering them with the opportunity to assist and participate in activities will foster a better gay community. Our mission is to help our participants become aware of everything the region has to offer through social and professional networking opportunities as well as partnering with other LGBT groups and community-based organizations for various activities and volunteering.