"Love In Action" Tweaks Its Philosophy

Those who watched Paula Zahn's report on "Love In Action" Thursday
night on CNN may have been surprised to hear the ex-gay ministry
express a revised philosophy that seems to concede that same-sex
attraction is not changeable.

(I had to tape the 2 a.m. repeat due to the DC United-Chelsea game on
ESPN2 Thursday evening, and just got around to watching the segment
earlier today.)

Paula interviewed Ben Marshall, a "graduate" of the "Love In Action"
program. Marshall told Zahn that, after completing "Love In Action,"
he no longer lusts after men "as much as he used to."

When Zahn asked Marshall whether "Love In Action" met his
expectations, he replied: "I was thinking their goal was to make me
come out on the other side -- lusting towards women. I was going to be
the epitome of the straight man. I was going to be the big burly
athlete. I thought they were going to totally change who I was, and
they didn't."

Zahn also interviewed Gerard Wellman, a graduate of the ex-gay program
who now works for "Love In Action." Wellman admitted that he still
fantasizes about men.

"It's not about the temptation; it's about behavior," Wellman told
Zahn. "It's about adjusting behavior."

When Paula asked Gerard, "All you're doing is suppressing your natural
instinct," he replied, "Right" and told her that "Love In Action"
"doesn't claim to change desires," but focuses on changing behavior.
(In other words, no sex at all, which is what a lot of those repressed
prudes would wish on heterosexuals as well.)
.