May 12, 2015
Watch Out Obama! The Ex-Gays are Coming for You (Again)
EDGE READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A petition on Change.org started by the leader of an ex-gay ministry is calling on President Barack Obama to meet with them. The move follows a statement released by the president in April where he called for an end to "conversion therapy" for minors.
The petition currently has 2,300 signers.
Citing Obama's 2008 victory speech where he pledged to hear the voices of those whose support he'd yet to earn, the Change.org petition blasts the president for what is perceived to be a White House snub.
"Countless people who are participating in the homosexual lifestyle have visited with you at the White House, and you have supported them on numerous occasions," the petition reads. "What about those of us whose compelling stories you have chosen to ignore?� We also have voices; and when you were first elected, you promised to listen to us. That has not happened yet."
The person behind the Change.org petition is Janet Boynes - a self-described "former lesbian" who is head of ministry bearing her name. According to her website, Boynes' ministry "offers help to those who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction."
"As someone who spent 14 years in the homosexual lifestyle and then experienced the transforming power of Jesus Christ," Boynes wrote in Charisma News. "I know it is possible to be set free. For 17 years, I have been living proof."
This most recent Change.org petition isn't the first time Obama has had a run-in with an ex-gay organization.
In 2013 Charisma News reported that ex-gay organizations Voice of the Voiceless and Equality and Justice for All unsuccessfully lobbied to have the White House issue a Presidential Proclamation to recognize July as the first official "Ex-Gay Pride Month."
Without a Presidential Proclamation, the first (and last) Ex-Gay Pride Month that promised tens of thousands of ex-gays converging on the nation's capital launched. The event drew less than ten participants.
Hyper-conservative "news" outlet World Net Daily reports that officials from Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) claim to have approached Obama in 2014 asking him for support.
"Because of your public outpouring of support for the LGBT community, we ask that you also extend your support to the ex-gay community, which continues to face unprecedented prejudice, bullying and hate," said PFOX.