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Scared Straight

The religious right's ex-gay movement is scouting local recruits

A A A Comments (8) By Joanne Green Thursday, Jul 12 2007

...continued from page 5

"I know, Key West is such a hotbed for gay activism," she says, laughing.

But Sarah did experience a life-changing event. She fell in love with a 30-year-old olive-skinned Italian woman who lived locally.

Tatiana Suarez

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"She was short, with dark curly hair," Sarah recalls, "and she was funny. She used to make me laugh." The two women dated for nearly 10 months; their relationship became sexual during the last few weeks. Sarah describes her former flame as "the love of her life."

"It was wonderful," she says with a grin, "but it came with a high price tag, because it wasn't God's design." Feeling bad because "the electrical sockets just didn't work," Sarah ended the relationship two years ago. She has been "clean" ever since.

She regrets the affair. "I ruined what could have been a really good friendship," Sarah laments. "There are some people that you know from the get-go you should stay away from because deep down you know you won't be able to say no."

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David 11/04/2009 12:06:00 AM

Unfortunately, this type of column paints an unrealistic picture that the church enthusiastically promotes. Not ALL homosexuals had traumatic circumstances as a child. Some, like myself, never knew anything else. My first reaction to puberty was homosexuality. Sometimes it is NOT a "choice". The church proclaims that children are all born pure and whole. We all this not to be true because of children being born deaf, blind, or missing limbs and/or organs. If homosexuality from birth is hormonal, this cannot be changed. The idea that gays wake up one day and say, "Gee, I think I want to be gay", is ludicrous. It's a life no one in his/her right mind would choose. It's a very difficult life to live. So kick up your polished shoes (as if gays are all filthy) and continue to live however you wish - BUT, don't attempt to speak for all of us because you know not what you say.

Marie 10/03/2007 3:35:00 AM

My heart goes out to those in the group. I just want to hug them all and let them know that God still loves them.... straight or gay. Thankfully, God does not have conditional love like so many of us humans do.

Edward 07/18/2007 10:26:00 PM

Herman writes "Teaching people to hate themselves and repress who they really are can only do them harm.If anything is slanted, it's the belief that God won't love you if you're gay. As a Christian I believe that God will love us no matter what." You're correct. God does love us no matter what. That is why the article IS slanted. Worthy Creations does NOT teach that God doesn't love you if you're gay. Ms Green took the liberty of lying to infiltrate the group and then twisting the words of the group leader and people she interviewed to create a skewed, one-sided, sensationalistic view. The group does not "recruit" "scare straight" "scout out" or teach anyone to hate themselves. Christians come to our small group voluntarily for prayer and support.

David Diaz 07/17/2007 11:26:00 PM

I went to Worthy Creations for a few months. The article is remarkably accurate. There is a reason Worthy Creations members are not allowed to spent time alone. Most of them will go back to having gay sex immediately. For instance, I recall on incident that happened when Worthy Creations had meetings at a church on Miller Road and Palmetto expressway. There were some bushes behind the parking lot of the church. One day I started talking to one of the Worthy Creations members and he asked me to accompany him to the parking lot. Then we kept walking into the semi-secluded area populated with bushes. Next thing I knew, he had his hand on my private parts. I told him that I was not going to have sex with someone who was actively trying to quit being gay, and I returned to the lit area of the parking lot. Some of the guys I met in the Worthy Creations group are still my friends several years later. None of us dealt with the gay issue the same way. One fellow is celibate, a few others are semi-celibate or in gay relationships, and the rest are back to dating and clubbing. Nevertheless, all of them are sincere Christians, and I love all of them. Good luck to the Worthy Creations current class. Enjoy the powerful worship and keep your relationship with God, even if you leave the group and return to your natural same-sex attraction. Christ is bigger than homosexuality or any other human condition, and He loves you even when everybody else condemns you.

Bob Stith 07/16/2007 10:24:00 PM

This kind of article makes me wonder whatever happened to real journalism. It is difficult to know which is more disturbing � the bias which is so flagrant it is laughable, the misrepresentation of facts (one example among many � John Paulk did not resign from Exodus as a result of the gay bar visit), the misstatements of theological beliefs (were they intentional or did the writer just have no understanding?) or the rude and attempted stereotypical descriptions of people who had no idea they were being set up. It�s too bad Ms. Green is not aware of the increasing concern among many APA members about the increasing strong arm political tactics in the APA on this subject. Many of these people are strongly pro-gay. They are just concerned about fairness and true scientific inquiry. Perhaps she would have been fair enough to detail the biases of Dr Shidlo and Dr. Schroeder as she was of those whom she discredited. Or then again, maybe she is aware, it just didn�t fit the conclusion she clearly wanted to reach. And that is the real tragedy of this kind of �journalism.�

Herman 07/14/2007 4:56:00 AM

I find it unsettling that the "ex-gay" movement is being pawned off as therapy. Teaching people to hate themselves and repress who they really are can only do them harm.If anything is slanted, it's the belief that God won't love you if you're gay. As a Christian I believe that God will love us no matter what. When Jesus created the new covenant, he taught a message of love and tolerance for EVERYONE. If we're going to give a true Christian message of love and acceptance as Jesus did..than it need to be for all people regardless of race, gender, or sexual preference.

June Heller 07/14/2007 3:11:00 AM

After reading this article, it doesn't seem to me that the writer was upfront with the worthy creations group about her intentions to write an article about their activities at Miami Shores Baptist Church and that she attended their meetings under false pretenses. People opened their hearts and guts in front of the writer because she pretended to be one of them, then she betrayed them by writing an article with an agenda to "expose" this aspect of the Christian community. While the writer may disagree that these people should be attending these meetings, and many people may not believe that they should or even do struggle with their homosexuality, this opinion does not give a writer a right to compose such a slanted news article. I am very close friends with a few people who have enjoyed successful heterosexual marriages after living as a gay man or woman. I also have friends who currently live as part of a gay couple. It is not my job to sit in self-righteous judgement of anyone, as the writer so clearly judges the worthy creations group in her article. I am suprised that a newpaper would allow this kind of "journalism" in their paper. Every community, Christians, journalists, athletes, you name it, has a few people who will draw attention to their misdeeds and fall from grace. To single out the few people who have so clearly struggled in the Exodus program, or to bring up Ted Haggard in the article and not include a single successful Exodus story when writing a news article is shameful. It is obviously intended to shock and awe the readership, rather than inform. I hope that the writer will take my comments into consideration next time she choses to sneak in and attack a community in Miami. We are a large, diverse community, and intolerance and self-righteousness only serves to divide us.