PFOX Kicked Out of Another Convention

Normally I wouldn't use WorldNet Daily as a news source, but they're the only ones who seem to have this story. They point to CRC's Poster-PhD Warren Throckmorton as their source, well, I suppose he'd know.

A group that believes people with same-sex attractions can abandon homosexuality was evicted from the Virginia Schools Counselors Association annual convention.

PFOX, Parents and Friends of Ex-gays and Gays, said school counselors at the event in Richmond, Va., last week objected to some of its materials and insisted the group leave.

Blogger Warren Throckmorton said PFOX was registered officially as an exhibitor at the conference, held at the Holiday Inn Select Thursday and Friday.

But the counselors association's current president, Tammy Davis, and past-president, Carol Kaffenberger, requested to meet PFOX Director Regina Griggs and insisted the group and its members had to leave.

Griggs said that after some discussion, the school counselors said two of PFOX's brochures were OK, one on bullying and another on teens. But the group, nevertheless, was told to leave because offering only two brochures would not be worth their time.

At that point, the hotel staff intervened and demanded the PFOX people leave, Throckmorton said.

One of the staff began to dismantle the table and police were called in.

PFOX members said they were willing to remove anything deemed offensive but were ushered out anyway. 'Ex-gay' group booted from conference

It's easy to say you should listen to both sides of a story, or that all sides of an issue deserve equal attention. It's only fair, right? The result is that the ordinary person reading the news encounters people telling the truth and people lying, and because of "fair and balanced" reporting, you can't tell which is which.

And so ... here's PFOX, the Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays. Oddly enough, I have never heard of anybody at PFOX actually having an "ex-gay" family member, but whatever. Essentially, PFOX is a hoax. It's a clever idea to confuse people by making them think that gay people can just decide not to be gay any more. Cuz really, most straight people have never given this a thought, and don't have any idea what to believe. So if you can make enough noise, with your "Change is Possible" billboards and your Agapepress fake-news stories and your TV appearances, people will start to believe that being gay is just a choice somebody makes, and since it does seem kind of gross, guys kissing guys and all that, it seems like a bad choice. From there it's a short leap to justifying discrimination and hatred. Sorry to say it, but that's where it goes.

Some scientists had an article last year called "One side can be wrong." Wow, what a concept. Just think, it might be that in some debates there is a correct point of view, and an incorrect one. Maybe everything isn't just contrasting opinions, but sometimes facts and fictions.

The idea that gay people can decide to become straight is a fiction. It doesn't happen. You know it doesn't happen. You didn't choose your sexual orientation, nobody does, nature is bigger and stranger and more awesome than we can ever imagine.

PFOX exists to create confusion. If somebody actually did change their sexual orientation, they wouldn't go out and put up billboards. If you were gay and now you're not, you're "straight," you don't go around telling everybody you "used to be gay." You say you used to be gay to convince other gay people that they should change, and to convince haters that their hate is justified, since gay people choose to be that way. There's no science of "ex-gays," no evidence that change really happens. It's a concept made up by a nutty religious-right organization to promote their viewpoint, and because people are decent and believe they should hear "both sides" of any issue, these guys get air time.

I went over to Throckmorton's blog to see what he said. Nothing new about this story, but something in the comments caught my attention. A commentor named Rob said what I'm saying:

Should PFOX present material? No. PFOX exists only to confuse the entire issue. Should a group be allowed to present material to lite skinned blacks on how they can pass as whites or latinos? Of course not. Credible organizations don't support the views of PFOX. Should we allow groups supporting voodoo to setup tables and tell students how their practices an help them to excel at their studies? Dr Throckmorton might think so, but people not guided by mysticism would disagree.

And then Throckmorton's response is telling. In part:

I suppose one might say PFLAG exists to confuse the issue.

PFLAG is the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. It's a group that exists to help families stay together and love one another, when a child grows up gay. It's a hard situation for parents, who are quite likely surprised by this turn of events, and probably don't know what to make of it, how to feel, what to believe. PFLAG is not a hoax, it fills a need, it's a real, positive, active organization.

PFLAG doesn't exist to "confuse the issue," as Throckmorton says. And the fact that he would attempt to put PFOX and PFLAG side by side, to say that one is doing what the other does, shows just how corrupt the reasoning is that underlies the whole "ex-gay" scheme. This is not fair and balanced, this is putting a hateful hoax alongside a real, caring organization, and trying to create doubt about which is which.

As for the Virginia Schools Counselors Association, I say: good for you.