It’s all things gay and Christian in this episode, with a specific look at the history of the ex-gay movement and reparative therapy. What do Tim and Ray think about Biblical infallibility and the “clobber verses”? What about the concept of deliverance? Is gay identity a choice or are we born this way? Is ex-gay identity a fallacy? Is the “decision” to change one’s sexual orientation really just the result of coercion? Tim and Ray review a pair of documentaries on the subject, including the new-ish Netflix film Pray Away, and take to task the narratives of former ex-gay church leaders who have now embraced their queer identities. There are a few focus points along the way: Dave Chappelle, the relationship between anti-science and anti-LGBT rhetoric in the church, Donnie McClurkin, exvangelicalism, and the problem with leadership models and the power structures in affirming LGBT faith spaces that mirror their conservative counterparts.

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Ray: @raycurenton

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Resources/References:

Abomination: Homosexuality and the Ex-Gay Movement (2006) dir. Alicia Salzer

For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) dir. Daniel G. Karslake

For They Know Not What They Do (2019) dir. Daniel G. Karslake

Pray Away (2021) dir. Kristine Stolakis

“Clobbering ‘Biblical’ Gay Bashing” by Rev. Mark A. Sandlin

“The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality” by Matthew Vines

“For Gay Christian Musicians, Work Balances Faith, Art, Love” by David Person

“1 man, 1 woman isn't the Bible's only marriage view” by Hector Avalos, Robert R. Cargill and Kenneth Atkinson (archived by Susan Russell of An Inch At A Time: Reflections on the Journey)

“The Bible: So Misunderstood It's a Sin” by Kurt Eichenwald

“So What If Homosexuality Were a Choice?” by Cindy Zelman