Today was certainly an exciting and productive day. We gathered outside the Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, CA, at 11am with our signs and began our vigil. Originally our group numbered about 10 people and over time grew to approximately 22. Traffic on Leghorn St. was fairly constant so we got a good deal of attention and while some people showed obvious consternation over our presence many honked their horns in support.
Not long after our arrival some participants of Love Won Out began filing out of the church. One young woman approached our group and initiated a conversation. We discovered that she was lesbian and celibate. She explained while she wasn’t actively pursuing change she felt that celibacy was what made her feel most spiritually fulfilled. The more she spoke, however, I had to wonder–as did others in our group–if she was telling us this to convince us or herself.
At a later point a young man came by our group and became engaged in conversation with Wayne, David and a few others. He insisted that he was very pleased with what he was hearing in the symposium and was not hearing any of the negative things that are known to be said in such conferences. For example, he denied hearing that women become lesbians because they have been raped, or that men “turn” gay because they were molested or had poor relationships with their fathers. Despite his insistence that he was enjoying the symposium, however, I was pleasantly surprised to see him later at the panel discussion (details on that below). He’d apparently decided to skip the rest of the symposium and join us for some facts instead of propaganda.
During the vigil Wayne Besen conducted video interviews me Sapphocrat (my better half) and several of the other participants for Truth Wins Out. A reporter for the San Jose Mercury News also interviewed several individuals so look for a story about the event, likely in tomorrow’s edition. Finally, two women from In The Life stopped by for their own interviews so some of our group just may end up on their wonderful program!
Lots of pictures, plus a detailed account of the event at
http://gaytheistagenda.lavenderliberal.com/2008/04/12/truth-wins-out-trumps-love-won-out/I posted this to let DUers know what other DUers are doing to raise awareness about the "ex-gay" movement. At least two DUers attended this demonstration and were interviewed both on tape and for print. Congratulations to BuffyTheFundieSlayer and Sapphocrat for a job well done!
Related links:
http://news.lavenderliberal.com/2008/04/13/mercury-news-covers-truth-wins-out-protest/http://www.truthwinsout.org/news/truth-wins-out-mcc-glbt-groups-protest-san-jose-ex-gay-road-show/:grouphug:
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