Randy Thomas, the former Executive Vice President of "ex-gay" group Exodus International who last year posted an open apology on his blog for the three decades of lies, pain, and suffering that his organization directed towards the LGBT community, has written a new personal reflection on his time with Exodus and how he is glad that courts are now striking down discriminatory marriage bans across the country.
Writes Thomas:
The night that Prop 8 in California and Amendment 2 in Florida (both banning gay marriage) passed I was jubilant. I truly believed what we had done was right and good. In the following days, and for a while afterwards, I repeated the talking points I had willingly adopted. I truly believed what I was saying. What I didn't make widely known was how heart-broken I was when I saw the gay community in California take to the streets. Their protests that night and in the days afterwards tugged at me. When I saw their grief-stricken faces my heart twisted in my chest. It was the first time in a long time I remember thinking, “did we do something wrong?” I quickly shoved that thought out of my mind as I joined my fellow religious activists celebrating the marriage “wins.”
Yet, the gay community with their protesting and sorrow filled faces would come back to haunt me over the years. Eventually the doubt over what we had done would get louder in my mind and change from a question to a conviction; a conviction that indeed we had done something terribly wrong. […]
The part that breaks my heart, is that the night that Prop 8 (and other marriage bans) passed, we made it very clear to the gay community that policy was more important than they are. We made it clear that we thought that investing in rules was more important than sacrificially serving in honest relationship. We communicated that we valued the letter of the law more than the authentic expression of grace in the context of humbly living our lives and loving our neighbor. The message we sent was deeply damaging to our relationships with our gay neighbors and family members.
For my part in this, I deeply apologize.
Today, I can honestly say that I am glad that the courts are striking down all the marriage bans across the country. It is my hope that we (Christians) can learn from the past, make the appropriate amends, and rebuild dialog and relationships with the LGBT community.
The full post is available over at Thomas' website, which you can visit HERE.
Last year, Exodus International – the most well known "ex-gay" ministry – closed its doors and its president Alan Chambers issued an apology "to the people within the LGBTQ community who have been hurt by the Church, Exodus International, and me."
