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‘Ex-gay’ leader criticizes pastor’s anti-gay remarks

Calif. minister calls ‘gay lifestyle’ unhealthy

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Phillip Lee

Screen capture of Pastor Phillip Lee on Jamaican television show 'Religious Hardtalk,' discussing ex-gay ministries in 2009. (Screen capture of video uploaded to 'His Way Out' ministries Vimeo page)

Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International — an “ex-gay” ministries umbrella group — distanced himself from an opinion piece written by “ex-gay” pastor Phillip Lee of His Way Out Ministries in Bakersfield, Calif., that attacked the “gay lifestyle.”

The Bakersfield Californian published an editorial Sunday called “‘Gay lifestyle’ poses threat to people’s physical well-being” written by Lee saying, in part, “[t]here is, therefore, little to no evidence that homosexual practice can be anything other than a severe threat to the sanctity of life.”

“That said,” Lee wrote, “all efforts should and must continue to better understand and find a cure for AIDS and AIDS-related diseases. However, if the sexual behavior that is fundamental to most homosexual practice constitutes the primary means of transmitting such disease, then it only makes sense for society to do all it can to decrease such behavior, which ultimately protects the sanctity of life.”

Chambers responded to Lee’s commentary in an interview with the Washington Blade on Tuesday.

“Exodus is a large and diverse world-wide network,” Chambers said. “Like any church, or any political party, there are different groups or different individuals within any organization that have certain beliefs. I wouldn’t say that this is the majority of belief within Exodus, nor is it my opinion or the opinion of those that work with me here in Orlando.”

Jim Burroway, publisher of the Box Turtle Bulletin blog, which published a link to the op-ed on Monday, said this is not the normal rhetoric that is used by the Exodus parent organization.

“I don’t know what the beliefs are among Exodus’ top people,” Burroway told the Blade. “I do know that what was printed in that op-ed is very uncharacteristic of the kind of statements you would get from Exodus International.”

“As far as AIDS stigmatization is concerned, they have stayed away from that at the Exodus International level,” Burroway added. “Exodus supposedly says that they maintain certain standards that they expect their affiliates to follow. So I would question whether this op-ed conforms to these standards that they expect their affiliates to follow.”

Chambers claimed that he regularly urges Exodus supporters not to use the kind of language contained in Lee’s commentary.

“These are the types of things, when I go into the numerous churches that I go into all over the world every single year, I tell them ‘please don’t say things like this, anymore. This isn’t helpful,’ Chambers said. “This takes us back to a time of debate when that’s something that we need to move far beyond.

“I have sent him my thoughts via email. Its a hard thing when someone that you’re friends with, and you’re close to shares something publicly that you have to disagree with. But I had to do it. Its one of those things that I felt like was necessary for us to respond to.”

Chambers said that he made his feelings clear to Lee about the editorial in his email on Tuesday.

“Basically, this is not something that I agree with. This is not something that I would say. Not something that I feel like is helpful for us as we try to have conversations about very complex issues.”

Chambers, however, did not entirely rebuke the premise of Lee’s piece that same-sex sexual relationships are fundamentally detrimental to the health of gay men, as the editorial hypothesizes.

“The fact of the matter is I travel quite a bit,” Chambers said. “I go through hundreds of X-ray machines in the airports every year. That’s detrimental to my health. There’s so many things out there that are detrimental to our health, and I think picking on one issue over another, or one set of people over another… we’ve moved past that, hopefully in our culture, and I’d like to see us move further than we have.”

“Chambers is trying to soft-pedal his bigotry in order to be able to falsely claim that he’s not anti-gay,” Director of Communications and Development for ex-gay watchdog group ‘Truth Wins Out,’ John M. Becker told the Blade. “He’s willing to do anything to save Exodus and repair its terribly damaged public image, because his organization is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.”

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Federal Government

RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth

‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.

The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.

“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”

While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.

The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”

Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.

“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”

GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”

Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.

“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.

“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”

“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.” 

Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.

“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”




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The White House

Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador

Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

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U.N. headquarters in New York (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.

Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”

“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.

Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy

Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

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Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.

The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”

Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.

“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.

Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.

The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.

Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”

Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.

“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”

“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.

Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.

The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.

Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.

A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order.  The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.

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