‘Ex-gay’ group accidentally inspires pride event with hateful billboard
An ‘ex-gay’ advocacy group probably didn’t expect to inspire the LGBT community in this town in Texas to throw its own Pride event.
In response to a billboard by Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX), the LGBT community in Waco, Texas decided to hold their own Pride event in 2017.
The billboard read: “Ex-Gays Prove Change is Possible.”
The pastor at Central Texas Metropolitan Community Church, Charley Garrison, spoke out about the billboards.
He told KTRE-TV: “Ex-gays implies there’s something wrong with gay, lesbian, and transgender people.”
“Ex-gay therapy does not do any good and in fact, can do harm in increasing the suicide rate in the LGBTQ community.”
The owner of a billboard in Dallas which carried a similar message, put up by David Pickup, took down the ad.
Pickup has defended the practice of gay “cure” or “conversion therapy”.
So now the LGBT community in Waco will go towards a Pride event for next year, hosted by the Church.
“Quite simply, self-hatred is not therapy. But it is dangerous!” Garrison wrote on Facebook.
“Join others in opposing the message of this billboard, by contributing to an LGBT Pride event in 2017. You may wish to make a pledge of any amount for each week the billboard remains standing. Or you may choose to make a single donation. Any donation you make will go toward celebrating the diversity of Waco’s LGBT community, rather than condemning it. Instead of getting angry at the billboard’s message, allow it to motivate you toward supporting Waco’s LGBT community.”
