The Story of one "EX" Gay

[007]

Ex-Gay speaker Greg Quinlan
Tuesday, June 06, 2006 -



Ethics & Religion

Causes & Cures of Homosexuality

by columnist Michael J. McManus
May 24, 2006

NEWARK: What causes homosexuality? Are people born homosexual?

Last week the New Jersey Family Policy Council answered those questions by inviting Greg Quinlan, an ex-gay, to speak to clergy in six cities.

His testimony begins with his father, "who was Archie Bunker" in manner, but unlike Archie, was physically abusive, beating his son so badly he was hospitalized twice. One day at age 8, in front of his friends, Greg asked his dad, "You hate me, don't you?" His dad cursed and replied, "Yes, I hate you." Greg sighed, "I knew that."

When Greg was 9 he "professed his faith in Jesus Christ. "But as things got worse, at age 10, a boy across the street, aged 13, introduced me to sex. I knew it was wrong, but what I got was affirmation, affection, approval and someone touching me who was not beating me up.

I got involved in pornography, discos, the homosexual lifestyle. I was very, very sexually promiscuous. It is the providence of God that I, at age 47, am HIV free."

As a registered nurse he volunteered to care for 100 men who died of AIDS before he stopped counting. Quinlan went to their funerals, reading their favorite Bible verses.

He joined the Human Rights Campaign, responsible for raising tens of thousands of dollars for one of the largest and most effective lobbies in Washington, which persuaded Congress to invest in AIDS research. "They taught me how to lobby. But what the devil trained me to do, God can use for His glory," he told pastors.

Quinlan started watching the 700 Club.

At first, he wanted to "reach through the set and strangle Pat Robertson. But he saw an ex-gay on the show who shared how he left the lifestyle. "EX-GAY?" he asked himself. "How is that possible? But I hated my life. There is pleasure in sin for a season, but I wanted out."

He called a Christian friend across the country and asked him to lead him in making a re- commitment to Christ. When Quinlan prayed the sinner's prayer, "I had peace." He started going to church.

At age 35, Greg's father, who was dying due to smoking, asked his son, the RN, to care for him. One day Greg told his dad, "I can't be here tomorrow, due to work." His father who had undergone a deathbed conversion, replied, "That's OK. I love you, Greg."

He was stunned. Prompted by a nurse, he replied, "I love you too, Dad." He died the next day. When Greg started on a path of truly forgiving his father, his anger and bitterness left - along with his homosexual desires. "I had a lot of reason to be angry. Three-quarters of gays were molested at an early age, like me. Now sex education is telling kids, homosexuality is normal."

He started a ministry in Dayton, the Pro Family Network, which lobbied for passage of Ohio's one man, one woman Marriage Amendment. He's been on the 700 Club four times, with his wife. As a result, he has received death threats, which frighten her.

He answers gay critics who charge that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality: "Look at Matthew 19, in answer to the Pharisees. Jesus replies, 'Haven't you heard, at the beginning, the Creator made them male and female.' Stop there. Not Adam and Steve, or Eve and Edith, but man and woman. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one.' They had sex. That's how we all got here. Jesus is quoting Genesis, and he can because he was there," he says to applause.

"There is no biological evidence, not one repeatable study, not a single genetic test that gives any validity to homosexual behavior as a "born" trait. No one is born Gay, no one! Homosexuality is an emotional disorder, a pathology that can be and has been effectively changed when a person is highly motivated."

A woman once challenged him: "If we find a gay gene, then you will have to accept it."

"No, I won't," he countered. "Last week I heard they discovered a gene that causes hereditary breast cancer. You think that if there is a gay gene, homosexuals should embrace their homosexuality.

Then she should accept her cancer, and embrace it. NO! That's nonsense. If diabetes has a gene, we seek to cure it. If there is a gay gene, let's work to cure it."

"Remember Scripture, 'Such were some of you.' It is a changeable behavior."


http://www.pfox.org/asp/newsman/templates/newstemplate.asp?articleid=272&zoneid=2

 

[The ClayTaurus]

So they answered the question by interviewing one individual? Is that the gist of this story?

 

[dmp]

So they answered the question by interviewing one individual? Is that the gist of this story?

He's demonstration the bad-logic behind "Gay People are BORN that way." and "Once Gay, always Gay!" and "Homosexuality can't be CURED"

etc...

 

[007]

So they answered the question by interviewing one individual? Is that the gist of this story?

His story is not unique. It's one of many.

The point is, being queer does not mean you were born that way, or that you can't be cured. There's plenty of help and support followed by success story after success story that the homo community works overtime to silence.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

What causes homosexuality? Are people born homosexual?

Last week the New Jersey Family Policy Council answered those questions by inviting Greg Quinlan, an ex-gay, to speak to clergy in six cities.

I'd hardly say those questions were definitively answered.

 

[Nienna]

I'd hardly say those questions were definitively answered.

Maybe not definitively answered, but does that mean that we should discourage people from seeking help if they want it? It shows that it IS possible to leave the lifestyle; it is NOT a helpless condition.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

Maybe not definitively answered, but does that mean that we should discourage people from seeking help if they want it? It shows that it IS possible to leave the lifestyle; it is NOT a helpless condition.

It doesn't prove that everyone is helpable. It proves some people can be. And it certainly doesn't prove that 100% of gay people, or even a majority of gay people, can be cured of it.

This is, of course, all beyond the debate of whether or not it's necessary to cure.

I would disagree with anyone who says that homosexuality is never something that can be reversed, but I would equally disagree with anyone who says homosexuality is always something that can be reversed.

 

[dmp]

I would disagree with anyone who says that homosexuality is never something that can be reversed, but I would equally disagree with anyone who says homosexuality is always something that can be reversed.

Homosexual URGES, perhaps...but Homosexuality CAN be prevented. Having misguided Urges is not being 'gay' - it's needing therapy

 

[Nienna]

It doesn't prove that everyone is helpable. It proves some people can be. And it certainly doesn't prove that 100% of gay people, or even a majority of gay people, can be cured of it.

I agree with that to an extent, even though Pale didn't make that assertion in this thread. I don't think people are curable if they don't WANT to be cured.

This is, of course, all beyond the debate of whether or not it's necessary to cure.

I would disagree with anyone who says that homosexuality is never something that can be reversed, but I would equally disagree with anyone who says homosexuality is always something that can be reversed.

Homosexuality will probably never be completely eradicated, just like murder, theft, lying, overeating, lust, etc. However, I do believe that there is A LOT of resistance to even having the information out there, that it CAN be helped. People who do not want to change from homosexuality are very defensive about the fact that others HAVE changed.

 

[Avatar4321]

It doesn't prove that everyone is helpable. It proves some people can be. And it certainly doesn't prove that 100% of gay people, or even a majority of gay people, can be cured of it.

This is, of course, all beyond the debate of whether or not it's necessary to cure.

I would disagree with anyone who says that homosexuality is never something that can be reversed, but I would equally disagree with anyone who says homosexuality is always something that can be reversed.

So we shouldnt help anyone because we dont know that they are helpable?

I think what makes us human is our ability to overcome anything we have to deal with. I dont think you give them enough credit.

 

[mattskramer]

Maybe not definitively answered, but does that mean that we should discourage people from seeking help if they want it? It shows that it IS possible to leave the lifestyle; it is NOT a helpless condition.

People should help people if those people want help. It is not our position to insist that they need help and had better get help. Unlike many people in the “homosexual community” I think that, through severe conditioning and intense counseling, you can turn a homosexual into a heterosexual. You can turn a left-handed person into a right-handed person. You can turn a smoker into a non-smoker. You could probably turn a heterosexual into a homosexual. You can turn a non-smoker into a smoker. Just as you can soften up hard clay and mold it into different things, you can change a person’s psyche but why would you do it? You would do it only if the person really wants to change.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

So we shouldnt help anyone because we dont know that they are helpable?

I think what makes us human is our ability to overcome anything we have to deal with. I dont think you give them enough credit.

And I think you vastly over-assumed my position.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

I agree with that to an extent, even though Pale didn't make that assertion in this thread. I don't think people are curable if they don't WANT to be cured.

It's entirely possible that some aren't curable. We'll never know because we'll never be able to rely on any "research" done on the issue for either side of the debate because it's all biased. And I never claimed Pale asserted anything in the thread; just found the title to the article over-reaching is all.

Homosexuality will probably never be completely eradicated, just like murder, theft, lying, overeating, lust, etc..

Or, depending on who you ask, just like being left handed, biting your nails, burping, etc. etc.

However, I do believe that there is A LOT of resistance to even having the information out there, that it CAN be helped. People who do not want to change from homosexuality are very defensive about the fact that others HAVE changed.

Absolutely agree. Some I'm sure are in denial, others probably just want to be left alone, others are probably just looking to argue.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure you can't paint the whole situation with just one stroke of the brush.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

Homosexual URGES, perhaps...but Homosexuality CAN be prevented. Having misguided Urges is not being 'gay' - it's needing therapy

I find that to be overly simplified. But then I'm also in the camp that believes in not giving a shit about someone's urges so long as they aren't hurting anyone else.

 

[dmp]

I find that to be overly simplified. But then I'm also in the camp that believes in not giving a shit about someone's urges so long as they aren't hurting anyone else.

Your Naive if you believe homosexuality doesn't hurt anyone. :-/

Hurts families, Hurts participants, hurts society.

 

[Nienna]

People should help people if those people want help. It is not our position to insist that they need help and had better get help. Unlike many people in the “homosexual community” I think that, through severe conditioning and intense counseling, you can turn a homosexual into a heterosexual. You can turn a left-handed person into a right-handed person. You can turn a smoker into a non-smoker. You could probably turn a heterosexual into a homosexual. You can turn a non-smoker into a smoker. Just as you can soften up hard clay and mold it into different things, you can change a person’s psyche but why would you do it? You would do it only if the person really wants to change.

So what if they DO want to change? Should they not be told that change is possible? Should they not hear the benefits of changing? Should the voices of those who HAVE changed be silenced just because others do not want to change?

 

[Nienna]

Regardless, I'm pretty sure you can't paint the whole situation with just one stroke of the brush.

Of course not. But the picture will never GET painted unless the artist STARTS making brushstrokes. We shouldn't silence or denigrate those who have a story to tell.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

Your Naive if you believe homosexuality doesn't hurt anyone. :-/

Hurts families, Hurts participants, hurts society.

Plenty of things hurt people in the hands of those who aren't responsible enough.

That's not a valid reason for advocating everyone be cured of it.

 

[The ClayTaurus]

Of course not. But the picture will never GET painted unless the artist STARTS making brushstrokes. We shouldn't silence or denigrate those who have a story to tell.

Problem is, two artists each want to paint the same picture, but only with 1 stroke! For every homosexual who wants to silence an example of a homosexual returning to heterosexual there's a heterosexual who wants to silence an example of a heterosexual going homo.

 

[Nienna]

Problem is, two artists each want to paint the same picture, but only with 1 stroke! For every homosexual who wants to silence an example of a homosexual returning to heterosexual there's a heterosexual who wants to silence an example of a heterosexual going homo.

So let 'em both talk.