Living Out Loud with Darian

Is it just me or is this week shaping up to be the second coming out for two popular ex-gays? Venus magazine creator Charlene Cothran and minister Ted Haggard have both announced to the world that they are no longer homosexuals and have been delivered from the life. Cothran explains that her conversion was a long difficult process but she has finally been "healed".

In the case of Ted Haggard, the men who were appointed to help him conquer his "sinful" attraction to men stated that a conversion of this magnitude would take anywhere from three to five years, well after only three weeks of "rehab" Ted Haggard has emerged as a brand new heterosexual. If it sounds sketchy then it's probably because it is.

I can only imagine the personal turmoil these two individuals have gone through over the years, they're both christians(gay christians might I add)and not everyone is able to reconcile they're sexuality with their faith, especially when your spiritual leaders are telling you you're an abomination and view gay bashing from the pulpit as a popular sport.

Charlene Cothran and Ted Haggard are perfect examples of self hate and religion gone out of control. Venus magazine was once a publication focused on LGBT people and now the very magazine that our community helped to build is being used as a weapon to convince us and our enemies that sexual orientation is not indigenous and can be changed.

If Charlene believes that somewhere deep down inside and I mean real deeeep inside that she's straight then I say by all means live your life authentically, but I have a problem when Charlene, Tedd and others like them who come forward and lead others to believe that their experience is the cure for homosexuality. I'll consider "curing" my homosexuality when we as a society collectively debate about a cure for heterosexuality. I don't see too many people trying to pray their way out of their straightness.

Ted Haggard's life is just becoming a series of disasters and this new revelation is just opeing the door for him to fall from grace again. Are we really supposed to take this man and his newfound straightness seriously? The ex-gays and their whole movement is one big joke. As gay and lesbian people we often live our lives in denial and lie to everyone about our truth in order to be spared the harsh judgement and ridicule so often hurled in our direction by those who oppose the "lifestyle".

So that leaves me to wonder why in the world would these two individuals in an attempt to come out of the closet as straight have inadvertently gone back in? Whether they realize it or not they are gay and although they might change their behavior, simply uttering the words" I'm straight" doesn't change your DNA. May God bless them.

Labels: Coming Out