Ex-Gay Movement Preys on Vulnerable Students

To the editors:

While we appreciate the greater attention that The Crimson has given the queer community and the Bisexual Gay Lesbian Transgender Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) this semester. However, the piece by Regina Griggs (Op-Ed, “Accepting Ex-Gays,” Feb. 26) buttresses the cruel onslaught of intolerance.

Griggs attacks the gay community for its “intolerance against ex-gays,” but we suggest that “ex-gay ministry” is intolerant at its roots. For decades, its advocates have attempted to change sexual orientation with shock therapy and brain-washing sessions. Coupling ex-gay outreach with religious indoctrination preys on students who are unsure of themselves socially and spiritually. Harvard is supposed to model tolerance, not self-rejection.

We object to Griggs’ derogatory reference to “that [gay] lifestyle” as if it were one, well-defined way of life. In reality, queer individuals have as many varied lifestyles as others. Nor is queerness a disease warranting “reparative therapy.” We do not need regeneration, fixing or repair.

Evidence shows that gays can almost never change their sexual orientation. We cannot create unnatural sexual attraction any more than straight individuals can feel homosexual attraction. As young bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals, we have already heard too much about needing to change ourselves. Griggs’ insistence that homosexuality should be “overcome” hurts us and angers us. Of course we encourage tolerance for individuals who identify themselves as ex-gay, too. But we still know that being gay is okay.

Lee-Sean Huang ’02-’03

April 2, 2002

The writers is publicity chair of the BGLTSA.