IN QUOTES

Ex-Gay Ex-VP Of Exodus Ministry Apologizes For Hurting LGBT People

Screen shot 2013-07-24 at 8.54.50 AMI participated in the hurtful echo chamber of condemnation. I gave lip service to the gay community, but really did not exemplify compassion for them. I placed the battle over policy above my concern for real people. I sometimes valued the shoulder pats I was given by religious leaders more than Jesus’ commandment to love and serve. That was wrong and I’m disappointed in myself. Please forgive me.

I directly empowered people to co-opt my testimony and use it against the gay community. There were a few times I almost worked up the nerve to confront them, only to hear them invoke my name at an opportune moment. ‘Of course I love gay people,’ they would say. ‘Just look at my good friend Randy…’ It was very selfish of me to back down in these situations. I apologize.”

 

 

— Randy Thomas, former executive vice president of now-defunct ex-gay ministry Exodus International, in an open apology to “the gay community” on his website.

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