Ex-Gay Pride Month: No One's Discriminating Against Ex-Gays, Or the Family Research Council

The Family Research Council (FRC), the well-known anti-gay group, has announced that it is planning a dinner in Washington D.C. to kick off what it calls an "Ex-Gay Pride Month" celebrating "formal homosexuals." According to Christopher Doyle, the director of the Family Research Council's new group Voice of the Voiceless, his group is the only anti-defamation league defending the rights of former homosexuals, individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions, and families. The group has even called on President Obama to issue a proclamation recognizing Ex-Gay Pride Month. The FRC's absurd actions seem to be a bitter reaction to the recent Supreme Court ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act. The group is taking on a "If you can't beat them, imitate them" approach. However, it is inappropriate for the Family Research Council to imitate the gay pride movement: "ex-gay pride" is not a movement but a social view.

So what makes this new ex-gay pride phenomenon not a movement? At its core, ex-gay pride does not fight any form of discrimination. Unlike movements like gay pride or the feminist movement, we do not see instances of systemic discrimination against being ex-gay. It is the same string of logic on why sexism against men is a not a movement. Many men, in response to the feminist movement, claim that if women fight to be equal, men must fight as well. Equality means that both sides have to fight to be equal, right? No.

One example is the Bechdel Test for movies, which is a low standard test for showing if a movie appropriately represents women:

To pass the test, two women must talk to each other about something other than a man. Surprisingly, very few movies pass this seemingly easy test. Why is there not a Bechdel Test for men? The reason for this is that there could be one, but that you would find such a tool useless because there is no systemic gender bias against men. So it is inappropriate to use the same tool for men. There is no need for a male gender movement because there is not discrimination to fight.

And the same goes for ex-gay pride. Ex-gays are not singled out and discriminated against. They are not denied rights. Therefore, they do not require a movement. And to "defend the rights" of ex-gays in the name of civil rights and equality seems strange because of this inherent difference.

The Family Research Council knows what it is doing by launching this campaign in the form of a movement. But it is misguided and inappropriate for doing so.

Need more proof? Listen to Greg Quinlan, one of the speakers slated to give a talk for the FRC's Ex-Gay Pride Month event, call Supreme Court Justices Kennedy and Kagan "black-robed Nazis" who want to "accomodate their own personal predilections, including their own sexuality" and call President Obama on the "down low" below, courtesy of Right Wing Watch:

Quinlan then alleges gay rights advocates want to cause "the end of the church," "destroy" the Constitution, and rise to power like the Nazis: