Ex-gay “Formers” visiting D.C. in 2019– Photo: Christian United
A cohort of “ex-gays” is descending on D.C. this weekend to apparently complain about conversion therapy bans and LGBTQ rights.
The “Changed DC” tour will see the anti-gay activists, who claim to have renounced their sexuality or gender identity, visiting the District until June 8. Activities will include a prayer meet, a “Freedom March,” and definitely not visiting the city’s LGBTQ bars, which coincidentally were recently allowed to reopen at full capacity.
The activists — who certainly won’t be planning to go to Pitchers, or dropping by Green Lantern, or meeting up at Trade — claim to have “left LGBTQ because we wanted to.”
As part of the Changed DC tour, which won’t include opening Grindr or Scruff while alone in their hotel rooms, they will be protesting against bans on conversion therapy — a widely debunked and harmful practice that claims to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity.
The “ex-gays” will also be protesting transgender people, whose rights are currently under assault in Republican-controlled legislatures across the country, as well as the Equality Act, a landmark piece of legislation which would codify nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people into federal law.
The group is demanding a number of “rights” that it claims pro-LGBTQ legislation will remove, including the right to “follow one’s religious convictions away from LGBTQ identity,” the right to “shape one’s own sexual identity without political indoctrination,” and the right to “publicly declare alternative views of LGBTQ experience without being labeled a ‘hate group.'”
“I didn’t want to live life as a gay man. I was tormented by suicidal thoughts and was unfulfilled. The talk therapy I received when I was a minor saved my life,” Ken Williams, co-founder of CHANGED Movement, said in a statement.
“I wanted a different way forward and my sexual desires eventually changed. I have been married to my wife for 15 years. We have four children together,” Williams continued. “Today I am connected to thousands who left LGBTQ behind. SOGI legislation takes away our rights to freedom of religion, speech and equal treatment by promoting LGBTQ identity as the only way forward.”
Fellow co-founder Elizabeth Woning said the activists had come to DC to “appeal to Congress to focus on human dignity, not identity politics.”
“We are Christians with LGBTQ in our past. Many, like us, have changed,” she said, ignoring the countless other former “ex-gays” who have since come out as gay and denounced conversion therapy. “We left LGBTQ because we wanted to. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms we have the right to live out what we believe. Fair treatment in America shouldn’t rest with one’s social identity, like LGBTQ or even religious beliefs, but with respect for the dignity of every person.”
It’s not the first time the group has visited D.C. to protest equality. In October 2019, a group of “Formers,” as they have branded themselves, came to the District to complain about the Equality Act.
Curiously, the group visited the city at a time when Republicans controlled the Senate, blocking the Equality Act from passing.
It begged the question as to why a group of people who claim to no longer be LGBTQ felt the need to visit D.C. at all — particularly on Halloween, when it would have been incredibly easy to slip on a costume and pass unnoticed in one of the many LGBTQ parties occurring that week.
Last year, the United Nations urged a global ban on conversion therapy, labelling it “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” and saying it “may amount to torture depending on the circumstances.” In December, more than 370 religious leaders from around the globe called on lawmakers to ban conversion therapy.
Research has found that conversion therapy more than doubles the risk of suicidal ideation among gay and bisexual adults, while transgender people subjected to conversion therapy as children are four times more likely to attempt suicide.
In addition, a number of former “ex-gay” leaders, who touted the efficacy of conversion therapy in attempts to force others to undergo the practice, have since come out as gay and decried the practice, admitting the harm it can cause to LGBTQ people.
A Wisconsin man is maintaining his innocence after being accused of using Grindr to carry out a sinister catfishing scheme against another man.
Matthew Huebschman, 32, of Appleton, pleaded not guilty to a single charge of stalking during a December 15 hearing before Outagamie County Judge Carrie Schneider, according to Seehafer News.
Police allege that Huebschman used the gay dating app Grindr to impersonate the victim and invite men to the victim’s home without his knowledge, then watched from a nearby location as the men arrived.
Seattle's local organizing committee for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is moving ahead with a first-of-its-kind "Pride Match" at Lumen Field on June 26, coinciding with the city's Pride Weekend, even though the scheduled game will feature Iran and Egypt, two countries that criminalize homosexuality.
The Pride-adjacent branding was created by the host city, not FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, which has not endorsed the designation.
When FIFA was planning the match schedule, Seattle was in line to host either New Zealand versus Belgium or Egypt versus Iran on June 26. Vancouver ultimately received the New Zealand-Belgium game, leaving Seattle with Egypt versus Iran, reports Outsports.
Tyler Getchell of Jacksonville, Florida, has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting and partially paralyzing his neighbor, Kyle McFarlane, during an argument over what Getchell believed was trespassing.
McFarlane told police he was gathering discarded furniture for a bonfire on November 22 when Getchell and his girlfriend came outside and yelled at him to get off their property, First Coast News reported.
According to the police report, video footage shows McFarlane standing on a property easement -- not on his neighbors' land -- just before the shooting.
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