There are people who say I’ve ruined their life. There are certainly things I’ve said that caused people shame. Do I think I’ve caused people to kill themselves? I don’t think so. But we deal with very, very vulnerable people. Those are things that haunt me. But I can’t live my life there because I’d never get anything else done. All I can do is say I’m sorry and do something different.”
— Alan Chambers, former leader of ex-gay ministry Exodus International, discussing whether he feels responsible for the suicides of former clients, in a BuzzFeed Profile
Palmer Scott
This man needs to shut up and go away for at least five years!
BlogZilla
This guy is evil.
Geoff B
This guy should just STFU forever. Yes, Mr. Chambers, you have blood on your hands. Deny it all you want but it’s true. If you truly want to make some sort of amends you have to first acknowlege what you’ve done. Until then, it’s all empty gestures and bulls**t.
DarkZephyr
Reminds me of Maggie Gallagher denying that she has blood on her hands. But in her case, she is not apologizing. She feels perfectly justified in her actions.
Jonty Coppersmith
I believe he is sincere in his apology. A mature person graciously accepts a real apology. I wish him well.
Eiswirth
What he can do, for the foreseeable future, Is travel the country and speak to formerly like-minded people and explain to them that a person’s sexual orientation cannot be changed, that it too is a gift from God and everyone should understand and accept that. And come of the closet himself.
Entropyguy
Good. He *should* feel haunted.
1EqualityUSA
Yeah, until he finds another way to milk society for dollars, turning one against the other and giving haters validation.
Derek Williams
He obviously did what he sincerely believed was right at the time, and is doing what he sincerely believes is right now, apologising for the monumental fuck up. He’s apologised, admitted ex-gay therapy is quackery that drives kids to suicide. I welcome his evolution.
Ogre Magi
He is the human equivalent of a backed up toilet
Palmer Scott
Every time Chambers does one of these mea culpas they seem more like he’s begging for attention than that he’s trying to undo the harm he’s caused.
tdx3fan
@Palmer Scott: Actually, he needs to keep speaking out against Ex-gay “ministry.” Who better to speak out about conversion therapy than the leader of the leading organization. If he wants to do something different, he can try standing up and speaking out for gay rights… the only way to right a wrong against a group of people is to beg for forgiveness and start working in the opposite direction of what you were doing.
tdx3fan
@Derek Williams: Or, viewing it more cynically, he obviously got rich off of preying on a vulnerable population, and now that the tide is turning he is going to get rich off of turning the other way. I wonder what his actual speaking fee is, and I wonder how long it takes to get a book and movie deal. He wanted 15 seconds of fame and he got more than that. He wanted to make millions, and he most likely still does.
Cam
“”But I can’t live my life there because I’d never get anything else done.”
_________________
Of course not….he has more gay people to drive to suicide.
Kangol
I always wonder why people like Alan Chambers cannot just deal with their psychosexual crises on their own, and not help to create policies and programs that oppress others.
He has done so much damage, and while his apology is welcome, he should spend every single day trying to help end “ex-gay” programs like Exodus that have destroyed the lives of countless LGBTQ people and their families.
1EqualityUSA
Maybe he will feel so guilty and badly about himself for doing this to us that he will off himself. I may be able to take this fucktard seriously then. Go away and get a job! Work for a living! Shut the Hell up.
charllandsberg
Well, for as long as he remains dishonest he can keep his sleepless nights and self loathing to himself. He’s a hypocrite who doesn’t deserve his sympathy mongering humoured. And yes he has caused people to kill themselves.
MK Ultra
Insincere and contrived. A narcissistic, attention-seeking sociopath. The pictures in the Buzzfeed article are hilarious – Chambers dressed in his most butch attire, trying to look deep and thoughtful. As is the title, “the man who caused the implosion of ex-gay therapy”. Chambers made millions off of it, and when the PR surrounding the business got too heated, he abandoned ship like a rat.
I guess he’s the type of religious nut that believes, “I can do anything I want, even drive young people to suicide, and as long as i pray for forgiveness – it’s all good. I don’t need to do anything else”
But the damage he has caused to the gay community, which is his own community no matter what he labels himself of pretends to be, remains and will no be forgiven nor forgotten so easily.
Gigi Gee
I hope that he’s haunted for the rest of his life. Him and Dr. Robert Spitzer.
Charles175
As horrible as what his ex-gay organization did, it is very important to realize the power and weight of the utter failure of this world’s largest and well known Christian “ex-gay” ministry. This man’s testimony of intense remorse combined with this massive failure has profound, and I mean PROFOUND power, to influence the courts around this country in our behalf. When you have a lemon, you make lemonade. You don’t merely throw it away.
Merv
Leaving minors aside, it’s not like he didn’t have plenty of self-hating idiots eagerly seeking out his quackery. They were big boys and girls, and can’t pretend they were completely innocent victims when they bought into the whole ex-gay load of crap. Every time they point a finger a Chambers, they should point a finger at themselves, as well.
balehead
He seems really sincere..where can we send him our money?….
Harley
Allan Chambers, to be blunt, may have been responsible for the deaths of dozens of teens.
There is no way around that. He had been warned for years. This I know. Every organization tried to speak with him in one way or another.
It was a CLEAR CUT CASE OF HIM SEEKING THE LIMELIGHT. He did NOT care what the outcome was as long as he could get on LARRY KING LIVE. He is evil and not redeemable. He should be ignored from this point forward as the non entity walking piece of shit he is.
grero
I smell a reality show!!!
Globaltraveler
You shouldn’t f**k up an apology with an explanation.
4of14
Is that what passes for an apology?
If you believe in Hell, you’re going there.
If you believe in Karma, it’s going to hit yoou hard.
If you believe in nothing, well then I guess no apology needed.
The very least he might do is dedicate his life to gay teen, men and women who struggle with coming to terms with who they are.
Comixbear
@DarkZephyr: Baggie Maggie not only has blood on her hands, she pours it on her Frosted Flakes (and donuts and pancakes and waffles and hash browns) for breakfast.
1EqualityUSA
and bacon, then laughs about it with her mouth open.
tdx3fan
@Merv: Merv, you really should not talk about what you know nothing about.
Here is how this works…
18 year old kid: Mom, Dad, I am gay?
Mom: What!?!
Dad: NO SON OF MINE IS GOING TO BE A FA–OT!
18 year old kid: I like guys. I can not help liking guys. That is who I am!
Mom: Its alright dear, we will find you help, we can get you help, you can change.
Dad: YOU BETTER GET THIS LITTLE FAIRY SOME F–KING HELP, OR THEY ARE OUT OF MY HOUSE!
18 year old kid: Sure, I will do whatever it takes to make myself better…I can change!
Sure, this does not happen in every case, but this happened so incredibly frequently.
In a perfect world, family and friends would just accept anyone for being who they are, but this is not a perfect world and places like Exodus International made a living off of children and young adults who would do anything just to have the love and acceptance of their family including this ex-gay therapy. They were victims of false hope, and they were victims of families that refused to love them as long as they did not follow the narrow minded view of the family. Taking family love away from a child is hard, and in many cases these kids and young adults are not strong enough to stand up for themselves. This is even worse for the kids that came out before they were ready to or that were outed.
OutnProud
“Dealing with very, very vulnerable people” and has the gall to make a sugarcoated attempt at a half-assed apology?
I hope he is haunted til the day he dies by the deceased people he traumatized