"Ex-Gay" Ministry Ceases Operations, Apologizes to Gay Community

“The president of a leading Christian ministry dedicated to helping gays repress their sexual urges through prayer has apologized to the gay community and says the group is shutting down.


Alan Chambers, in a statement posted Thursday on Exodus International’s website  (319 KB), said the group wants to apologize to the gay community ‘for years of undue suffering and judgment at the hands of the organization and the church as a whole.’…

Exodus International, which is based in Orlando, Fla., was founded 37 years ago and claimed 260 member ministries around the U.S. and internationally. For decades, it offered to help conflicted Christians rid themselves of unwanted homosexual inclinations through counseling and prayer, infuriating gay rights activists in the process…

47% of Americans Believe People Are Born Gay


47% of Americans believe that sexual orientation is determined at birth, while 33% believe homosexuality is due to external factors such as upbringing or environment, according to a May 16, 2013 poll from Gallup. The 14% gap in favor of nature over nurture is the largest Gallup has measured to date.

Gallup asked a random sampling of 1,535 Americans over the age of 18, “In your view, is being gay or lesbian something a person is born with, or due to factors such as upbringing and environment?” 9% said that both conditions apply, 3% said neither explained sexual orientation, and 8% said they do not have an opinion on the subject. Gallup, which began reporting on gays and lesbians in 1977, reported that the first year the question was included in their survey only 13% of Americans said homosexuals are born gay. 56% of those surveyed attributed sexual orientation to a person’s upbringing or environmental factors.

Since 1977, the number of people who believe sexual orientation is determined at birth has increased while the number of people citing external factors has decreased. As recently as 2011, 40% of Americans believed homosexuals were born gay while 42% believed homosexuals were products of their environment. Nature exceeded nurture in Gallup public opinion polls in 2002 and 2006-2008.

According to Frederick L. Whitam, Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University, “although all people in all societies with rare exceptions are socialized to be heterosexual, the predictable, universal appearance of homosexual persons, despite socialization into heterosexual patterns of behavior suggest not only that homosexual orientation is biologically based but that sexual orientation itself is also biologically derived.”