Lesbian Commissioner Hates Ex-gays
During the 28th Exodus ex-gay national conference, Florida
Commissioner Vicki Vargo
declared July 21st, Exodus International Day in the City of Orlando.
An openly lesbian
Commissioner, Patty Sheehan,
tried to take political advantage of the
situation by championing this simple encouragement as an affront to
the
gay community. Sheehan dismissed the almost 1000 nationwide and
local ex-gay
conference attendees encouraged by the proclamation. Sheehan did so
by comparing
Exodus to the KKK. Commissioner Sheehan seems oblivious to the
reality
that just as she enjoys making proclamations announcing "Gay Days"
every
year at Disney World, Commissioner Vargo, her peer, can make
independent
proclamations to events she considers are a benefit to the community
as
well.
Exodus and our ex-gay member ministries have never attempted to
force people to
embrace our opinions. We are here for those who want our help. A few
in
gay leadership roles are willing to use their influence against us
by
lying and defaming. They have successfully done so for so long that
many
good hearted and well intentioned people in the gay or pro-gay
communities basically view rational, intelligent and serious
"ex-gays"
as cartoons. When in reality most seeking freedom from homosexuality
are average people just trying to live a content life under the
radar of
volatility surrounding this politically over-dramatized issue.
If this had simply been one event, or if Commissioner Sheehan would
have
answered [Exodus leader] Alan Chambers' appeals to meet with her, a
public response
probably would not have happened. Unfortunately this Commissioner
has a
pattern of using her position to wield political power to defame not
only Exodus, but faith based communities who hold different
viewpoints
than her own. Her refusal to even have a dialogue with Exodus is
another
mark against the credibility of her hateful claims.
To: Orlando, Florida Mayor From: Alan Chambers Re: Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan
Dear Honorable Mayor:
My name is Alan Chambers and I am a resident of District 3. My full time position, however, is as the Executive Director of Exodus International-North America, a worldwide Christian organization that offers an alternative to homosexuality for those who willingly seek it.
Over the past 18 months Exodus has come under public attack by Commissioner Patty Sheehan. During a City Council meeting regarding the amending of Chapter 57, Commissioner Sheehan called the members of the Christian community who opposed the amending of that ordinance "Nazi’s" and in a WESH News Channel 2 interview she equated Exodus to the Ku Klux Klan. To liken Christians who exercise their First Amendment right to vocally oppose the amending of a city ordinance to the Nazi’s and Exodus to the Ku Klux Klan is to accuse a tenured group of upstanding, moral, civically active, Godly and well respected Orlando leaders of murder, violence and other atrocities. Some of these leaders were your own pastor: Dr Howard Edington, the late Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade; Reverend Jim Henry of First Baptist Orlando, Reverend Caretha Brown (African American), Reverend Sherman Adams (African American), Reverend Sylvester Robinson (African American), Mr. Randall James (former Chief of Staff for 2 Orlando Mayors), Mrs. Barbara Rushing (former Orange County School Board member) and literally thousands of others who make up the conservative Orlando community and the organization of Exodus.
The labeling Commissioner Sheehan chose is most offensive to the scores of African-Americans, Asians, Jews and other minority groups who were opposed to the amendment and the others who are a part of Exodus. To equate an African American to the Ku Klux Klan and a Jew to a Nazi is one of the most inexcusable, offensive and reckless things that could ever be done. For Commissioner Sheehan to use this terminology shows her absolute disdain for anyone who dares to challenge her and utter disregard for the reprehensible acts that the African American and Jewish communities endured during two of the most horrendous seasons in human history. Her accusations are an absolute lie and deeply hateful.
Commissioner Sheehan has continued to publicly mischaracterize Exodus as a hate group in the Orlando Weekly, Watermark, and other media outlets and sought to rally the city behind her; she has done so as a City of Orlando employee and not as an individual citizen. Commissioner Sheehan has used her position to publicly belittle and harass a Christian organization and Christian people simply because their beliefs do not match her own. I have offered to meet with Commissioner Sheehan on her terms several times to share the correct mission of Exodus yet have never heard from her. Today I would like to publicly set the record straight regarding the mission and work of Exodus and go on record by registering this formal complaint.
As an organization Exodus upholds the biblically based view that homosexuality is one of many types of sexual sin. We also believe in the God given right to freedom of choice. Though we do not believe anyone initially chooses to have homosexual feelings, we do hold to the truth that all behaviors are a choice and therefore that homosexuality is changeable. While many who have homosexual feelings choose homosexual behaviors and lifestyles, tens of thousands of men and women, just like me, have chosen another alternative. The word offer does not mean to force, it means to suggest, propose or present; the synonym for alternative is choice, not one way. Exodus offers an alternative to homosexuality. The American Psychological Association calls this the right to self determination.
Today, I respectfully ask that you and the City Council hold Commissioner Sheehan accountable on how she uses her time and position as a city employee with specific regard to the smear campaign she has waged against the Christian community and Exodus. As a citizen of the city she was elected to serve, I ask that you and the other members of council redirect her back to the business of serving all of her constituents regardless of their political affiliations or religious beliefs.
Commissioner Sheehan was a very vocal proponent to the amending of the anti-discrimination [sexual orientation] ordinance but is currently one of the most grievous violators of the spirit of that ordinance where the Christian community is concerned. Commissioner Sheehan needs to practice the tolerance, respect and peaceful co-existence that she so hypocritically preached about last year. Commissioner Sheehan tearfully shared that she would be afraid to live in Orlando if the amendment wasn’t passed. Today I submit that I am equally afraid to live in a city where an elected official who serves at the pleasure of her constituents is allowed to use her position to verbally beat down a religious group for the mere fact that they differ in opinion on the immutability of sexuality. Commissioner Sheehan is a visible example of the hatred she claims to be against.
Finally, Commissioner Sheehan has voiced public opposition to a proclamation that Commissioner Vicki Vargo graciously bestowed upon Exodus to commemorate the 28th Annual Exodus ex-gay Conference that was held at your church, First Presbyterian Church Downtown, this past July 21-26. Commissioner Sheehan has publicly said that this proclamation offended her, that proclamations are supposed to uplift a specific community and that the proclamation given to Exodus did not. It is obvious that Commissioner Sheehan believes that the handful of gay people who have objected to this ex-gay proclamation somehow take precedence over the one thousand conference attendees, not to mention the tens of thousands of city residents who support the work and mission of Exodus, all who were sincerely uplifted by the proclamation that Commissioner Vargo made. I have never been uplifted by Commissioner Sheehan’s proclamations commemorating Gay Days in Orlando, but I have also never challenged her right to honor people that she is affiliated with, nor has my commissioner, Vicki Vargo.
As offered before, I am willing to meet with anyone on their terms to discuss Exodus and also to hear and take to heart their valid criticisms. Even the Orlando Sentinel and The Orlando Weekly have taken the time to thoroughly research and scrutinize me and my organization, which resulted in two very lengthy articles in both newspapers respectively. Both articles possessed a great deal of truth in my opinion and I commend them for their honest and fair portrayal despite the fact that they disagree with our position on homosexuality.
The truth is Exodus is not about hate as we hold true to the Bible, a book proclaiming that the God of the Universe is in love with his creation. I believe that God is as much in love with the homosexual person as he is with the heterosexual person. There is no doubt that Christ came for all of us or He came for none of us; He loves all of us equally or He loves none of us at all—that message is not exclusionary it is all inclusive; it isn’t hateful it is in fact the most loving messages ever shared.
Sincerely, Alan Chambers Exodus _____________________________________
Over the past several years I have
observed that the City of Orlando has
prided itself on its tolerance and diversity. I am here today to
simply
remind you of the definition of these two words. According to the
dictionary, tolerance means “a tolerating or being tolerant,
especially
of views, beliefs, practices, etc. of others that differ from one’s
own”
and the root word of diversity is diverse which means “different;
dissimilar, varied.”
If Orlando is truly to be a tolerant and diverse community, then
those
who demand respect for their differing lifestyles must vow to be a
role
model of tolerance and embrace the differences that make this
community
diverse.
I end by quoting a line attributed to the philosopher Voltaire, “I
disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your
right to
say it.”
Thank you.