When members of the anti-gay group the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) gathers next month in Philadelphia for their annual convention, they’ll be facing a lot of baggage—theirs certainly, but also luggage being brought to them in protest.
Truth Wins Out, a group that works to expose the scientific quackery of groups like NARTH, will sponsor a “Lift My Luggage” protest on Nov. 6:
The notorious “ex-gay” group is hoping that Americans have amnesia and won’t remember that its most “prominent” board member, George Rekers, was forced to resign in May. Rekers stepped down from NARTH after he was caught vacationing with a male escort he met on RentBoy.com. When asked why he had hired the young man, Rekers said it was to, “lift his luggage.”
“As the infamous quacks at NARTH gather for their annual convention, let’s remind America that NARTH is a pseudo-scientific organization that is more about luring Rent Boys than conducting legitimate research,” said Truth Wins Out’s founder Wayne Besen. “In light of recent gay teen suicides, we must stand up and show how NARTH’s lies harm LGBT youth and create an intolerant climate where persecution, bullying, and violence occur.”
The announcement of the protest comes on the heels of an announcement by another “ex-gay” group, Exodus, that they would no longer sponsor the annual “Day of Truth” that encourages students to “counter the promotion of homosexual behavior” with a Christian message of intolerance.
“All the recent attention to bullying helped us realize that we need to equip kids to live out biblical tolerance and grace while treating their neighbors as they’d like to be treated, whether they agree with them or not,” said Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, the group that sponsored the event this year.
Called the Day of Truth, the annual April event has been pushed by influential conservative Christian groups as a way to counter the annual Day of Silence, an event promoted by gay rights advocates to highlight threats against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.
Perhaps Exodus is beginning to come to its senses about how harmful their message really is to gay and lesbian people. Hopefully, TWO’s protest will help NARTH get the message and the whole lot of them can be sent packing.
