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16yr old Gay teen, sent to Heterosexual boot camp!

JustineCredible

Wading through the Mire
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Zack, a sixteen year old Tennessee boy was sent by his parents to a heterosexual boot camp called: "Love in Action."

This group is just another attempt to use religiously motivated hate in order to force teens to behave as though they are straight.


This an many other articles relating to this situation can be found at:

http://www.exgaywatch.com/blog/index.html
 

Sounds like love to me!


If you get a chance, check out the movie "Saved!" with Mandy Moore and Macauley Culkin. It deals in part with places like this.
 
shuamort said:
Sounds like love to me!


If you get a chance, check out the movie "Saved!" with Mandy Moore and Macauley Culkin. It deals in part with places like this.
Click to expand...

I'll try to find it, maybe search my Blockbuster Online listings for it.

It's just sick how these groups as well as other "conversion therapy" groups continue at all. They have been shown over and over to have a HUGE failure rate of nearly 99%. The APA has actually submitted a public warning about these groups and the very real danger they pose.
 
JustineCredible said:
Zack, a sixteen year old Tennessee boy was sent by his parents to a heterosexual boot camp called: "Love in Action."
Click to expand...
If my kid thought he was gay, after looking further into it - this might be an option. Sorry, don't buy the genetics thing. Hate is such a strong word. I don't "HATE" anyone, yet I am sure that many reading this would think otherwise. I just disagree with the lifestyle.
 
You'd send your child to a place where the person running it says that your child would be better off killing themselves than living as a homosexual?
 
I did say I would have to look further into it before committing to anything.
Who is to say that this statement is not BS? The media will do anything for a rise or to make something that is not a story - become one.

If however I found that to be true - I would pursue other avenues to help my child with his issue.
 


Why would you even want to "look further", is unconditional love of your own flesh and blood a concept that is beyond you?

A child goes to their parent and says "I feel I might be gay." Is this cause for alarm? No, I really don't think so. Is it cause for a compassionate talk about sex and sexuality? Sure, it's an open door. But to ship your kid off to some brainwashing camp because YOU can't deal with your child's sexuality isn't a problem with the child...it's a problem with YOU...the parent.
 
Fine argument. But if my kid did come up to me with those words it is indeed a cause for alarm and a compassionate talk. Hopefully by that point we have already had an open discussion about sex.

There are camps for may issues with youngsters. Fat camp, attitude camp, etc... just because a parent decides to send them to one of these does not mean the parent was incapable or lazy. Sometimes, we all know, the atmosphere of being around the type of people that we are can help us to overcome great obstacles. Alcoholics anonymous comes to mind as well. Equally, there are camps for single moms and parents that have homosexual kids.
 

AA isn't a camp darlin. It's a VOLUTARY group.

My son came to me at the age of nine and did ask me; "Mom, because you're gay, does that mean I am?" My answer was loving, compassionate and truthful. I told him that only he could answer that, and he would know in time. Just because I'm gay does NOT mean he would be or that he would not be. But I did also let him know that no matter what I would always love him, I would always support him and would always be there to answer his questions.
If my son was to come to me and say "Mom, I know we talked about this already, and at that age I simply wasn't sure, but I now think I'm gay." I would still love him. I would ask him some very tough questions, but I would not send him away or force him to change because I can't deal with it.
Unlike obesity, it won't make him susepable to heart disease. Unlike alcoholism, it won't endanger the lives of others if he gets behind the wheel of a car.
Unlike anti-social attitudes, being gay won't make him torture little animals or steal to support a drug habit.

I would however make damned sure my child knew the very real dangers of unprotected sex.

OH WAIT...I've ALREADY had that discussion...a NUMBER OF TIMES! and my son isn't gay!
 
There is a movie called "Latter Days." Quite interesting about homosexuality and the Church of Latter Day Saints. Saw it with a friend of mine when it was showing at a nearby theatre.
 
flip2 said:
There is a movie called "Latter Days." Quite interesting about homosexuality and the Church of Latter Day Saints. Saw it with a friend of mine when it was showing at a nearby theatre.
Click to expand...


There's also another interesting one, albeit limited distribution, called: "Trembling Before G_d."

http://www.tremblingbeforeg-d.com/about/
 
I've got a confession, when I was around 13-14 I thought I was gay. I admired this guy in school, cool guy - looking back on it now though I wasn't attracted to him sexually, I just wanted to be like him. I even said to my MOTHER that I thought I might be gay lol! She just said, "Your too young to know." Maybe it did me a world of good, because I'm totally comfortable with my sexuality now.

My main point it is hard for a young teenager with hormones flying about to know if he/she is gay, bi or straight.
 


I don't buy the genetics thing either, but I do believe we are what we are. If you'd put your kid through this because of your own fears and prejuidces, because you want to mould him into what you want him to be, you can't possibly love him.

This is going down the "cure them" route. You can't cure people who aren't ill.
 

What a sensible mum you have, who didn't do the Texan freak on you.
Kids will be confused, they will experiment, and they will eventually find themselves, and no amount of pressure either way will change what they fundamentally are. And if that's gay, straight or bi, who cares? And if as a parent you do care, you don't love your kids or respect them for who they really are.
 

I know I already responded to your post, but I got to thinking, what "lifestyle" is it you actually disagree with?

Yeah, I know, I have a real problem with the badge of "lifestyle" when speaking about the lives of individuals. Especially when those lives really aren't all that different from the ones who use the name.
I've said it before, my "lifestyle" is that of a suburban stay-at-home-mom. I run a small business out of my home which allows me to be there for my son. My life is focused on three main things. My child and family, my work and my friends. That's about it. That's about it for MOST people, regardless of sexual orientation.

So, is it that you disagree with the " lifestyle" so much as it is, and I suspect I'm right, the sex itself?
 

hold on now, I support gays in every single way but just because a mother cares or is worried about their child being gay it doesn't mean that she doesn't love her child, it just means she is taking the news in a bad way. She is wrong in trying to change her child but that doesn't mean she doesn't love her child.
 

No, it means she has Conditional Love...ie "I love you as long as you're straight."
 
Well said crimson372. :applaud
 
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Why would homosexuality really be a choice? Do you think the mass numbers of people who claim they are homosexual really wish to voluntary join a group that is frowned on by a majority of America, subject to hate crimes, and also the victims of verbal and physical abuse (see this forum for a few examples)?

I'm sure that at least a few homosexuals would agree with me that if they had the ability to switch their sexual preference back and forth, they would become heterosexuals. If it is indeed a choice, then there's really no obligation to devote yourself to either sexuality.
 
I know that if I could change to a heterosexual I would. Heck, if I was granted one wish it would be to become heterosexual. Why would I want my parents to hate me and my religion to frown down upon me.
 


Agreed.

Granted, I know my own experience is only to some, but my own experience isn't by any stretch of the imagination unique.

I, myself, had tried to "be straight." I knew that openly admitting that I was gay would only cost me friends and frowns of society in general. I lied, pretended I was straight, even dated and married someone of the opposite sex thinking, and falsely so, that if by doing so I would somehow magically BECOME straight.
It just doesn't work that way.
I was and am still and forever....gay.

The ONLY choice, as I have stated ad infanitumn, was either to live a lie by pretending to be something I'm not, or to live honestly and teach my son by my example of what honesty is.
That was my ONLY choice. One of which I'm very glad I choose to live according to my nature. It has lifted the self-hatred and depression from me. I am now very happy, have a wonderfully supportive family (both of origin and of choosing), and am raising a child who knows who he is and is not affraid of the truth.
 
JustineCredible said:
So, is it that you disagree with the " lifestyle" so much as it is, and I suspect I'm right, the sex itself?
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Actually, I do not care what goes on in anyone's home. We both are alike in that we agree that sex should be left out of the public. I am willing to go a bit further though - please do not tell my kid that a specific type of sex is ok - albiet same sex, S&M, oral or anything out of the normal boundaries. Let my child discover that on thier own when they are older. Let them have a childhood even. These topics do not belong on television, radio, or in the media.

I have as much issues with folks preaching homosexualism as I do wth preachers telling me I am going to hell without due cause. If I go to chuch, I exect that type of activity. If I go into a gay bar - the same applies.

The lifestyle that I was refering is the "I am gay- deal with it" type. I respect the type of person that states - this is me - accept me if you want. The "I am gay" clause is truely irrelivant.
 
[qiote]The media will do anything for a rise or to make something that is not a story - become one.[/quote]

The media does not exaggerate.....

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alarmism for fun and profit....
 
This article made the mainstream news? Wow! I'm surprised. Got a link, I'd love to see it!

I mean, it's on SOVO, but that seems to be a gay source.
 
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