STATEMENT ON ZACH, AND THE FUTURE...

The Queer Action Coalition itself began when it became clear that a 16yo kid was being taken to Love In Action "against his will" back in early June. These events came to public attention first when the teenager posted a bulletin through his MySpace account, which then took people to his blog, where people then began to spread the message, first through www.cherrybloss.org. The media then responded and people on the internet began to find his blog from all over the world, making thousands of comments and forming groups, such as FREE ZACH, which now has over 5,000 members. At this point it became very clear for QAC that we wanted to focus on what we knew about LIA, rather than a certain individual, simply because we were very concerned about the possibility of the individuals situation becoming worse, however we did want to show support. At this point, the media had already caught on, and the teenager, the issue, the organization, etc…were all now focused around “ZACH”. The protests remained anonymous in their message. No organized protest ever had a single sign mentioning Zach’s name, and it was very clear that we were to be respectful, and fair, simply because the objective was to offer a different side to something we saw as unfortunate, and potentially harmful.

Now we reach the end of Zach’s stay at LIA and he posts a new blog, and suddenly media, and hundreds of people all over the internet are again going wild about what’s next, or what Zach meant, or what he’ll do, or even debating on the matter how “his new statement” will effect what anyone has been doing recently to try and fight homophobia, and share messages of love and acceptance, we’ve had media calling from around the country asking for statements about Zach’s new blog entry. This is getting out of hand. Yes, this began with this teenagers “cry for help”, but the reason people answered his cry is because of the situation he was being put in. The real question has to be about why we responded to the “cry for help”…while Zach will make his own decisions about what he wants to say, and do, we of course send our words of support, and love, hoping that he can find peace with himself, his friends, family, and the world of people around him who have gotten involved. AS of course we will do all we can to support Zach, we ask everyone to respect this individual, and understand, again, why his “cry for help” was most likely sent out…and why you responded so as to see the bigger picture…


HERE IS THE BOTTOM LINE....

LOVE IN ACTION is an isolated physical structure that represents a larger problem. They say, very clearly, that being gay is not ok. Former clients, one after another, testify that the organization promotes self-hatred, shame, and fear. ALL MAJOR MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH organizations say that they do not approve of any sort of therapy practicing out of bias, as it is well know that it potentially harms people, furthering the problems the clients already have. It is also a fact that these organizations do not provide clients with other resources if they do indeed decide they want to be a healthy, out gay person...which basically leaves their clients with no alternative resources after they leave, giving the gay person a feeling of "no where to go", similar for parents, who are not given PFLAG info so that just in case, they can go on to find other parents who accept their kids, also leaving the parents feeling isolated and alone if they do decide to seek other resources. It is also a fact that they use outdated, and disproven statistics on gay people, which then further encourages fear, shame and rejection of the gay person.

Look no further than what they mention about who founded their organization where they do not mention the actual founders, John Evans, and Kent Philpott. One can only assume they do not mention this because John Evans is an openly gay Christian man, who has recently sent letters of support for all gay people, explaining that what LIA does is "dangerous", and has been so since it began in 1973. Evans left the group when his best friend, Jack McIntyre, who was a client, killed himself because he was so ashamed of being gay, and the program wasn’t working for him.

At the very least, we realize the importance of giving people truthful information, so that they can make informed decisions, as opposed to misleading them into believing things so that what you offer seems more appealing and credible.

That said, Love In Action, as has been stated by all of its clients, can be a very productive place. For the record, QAC stands firmly in our respect for all of LIA's clients, and staff. We wish to, and have been engaging in dialogue with them. We have never made it our goal to shut them down, or hurt them. We also did not play any upfront role in the investigations that came from the state involving Love In Action. We would like to say also, that we have attempted to educate those who have expressed overly slanted views in this situation, noting that in speaking to former clients, such as Brandon Tidwell, or Jeff Harwood has been a very educational experience for us, as they both have a great respect for the people at LIA, yet they all share the same view of its negative impact on those who seek out, and have received their care. We understand, and have explained that LIA is not filled with evil people. It's important to point out the positives that people have gotten out of their time there. However, these positives are rooted in issues any licensed therapist would be able to address, only without the shame, and promotion of self-hatred which eventually leads one down a path of rejection, and fear, simply due to the misinformation provided by biased counsel.

A licensed therapist cannot misinform people by supplying biased, slanted statistics, or using techniques that have been proven to be harmful by every major health organization. A therapist cannot do this, because they would lose their license, because it would be considered unethical. It would be considered unethical, because the well-being of a person would be endangered. One would hope that the well-being of any person is looked after the first and foremost when in a therapeutic setting.

THESE ARE OUR CONCERNS. There is a reason, time and time again that people go through these programs..why parents send their kids...PEOPLE ARE ASHAMED, BROKEN, FULL OF FEAR BECAUSE our a large portion of our society, and a large section of Chrisitans are sending messages to gay people...these messages are perfectly represented by LOVE IN ACTION: you should change, you should be ashamed, it's not right to be who you are.


We firmly believe in the importance of fighting these messages by giving examples of TRUE LOVE IN ACTION. We hope to provide truthful education, and to show that Gay people can be happy, productive, healthy people. This current fight began with Zach, but it's one that has been going on for a very long time, and one that will not end soon, as we to continue with education, advocacy, and the living of our lives in ways that will allow us to overcome what boundries are presented, therefore to live the change we seek....

NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO BE ASHAMED OF BEING GAY. NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO HATE THEMSELVES. NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO BE SUBJECTED TO PEOPLE, OR ORGANIZATIONS THAT ENCOURAGE SHAME, SELF-HATRED, AND THE UTILIZATION OF BIASED INFORMATION TO ACCOMPLISH ITS GOALS. WE HOPE THAT IT WILL BE EASIER AND EASIER FOR GAY, LESBIAN, TRANSGENDER, AND BISEXUAL PEOPLE, AND THEIR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS TO BE ACCEPTING, AND EDUCATED ABOUT THEIR RELEVANT ISSUES.

More about out future plans soon.